how much live sand?

i have a 55gal tank i'm setting up. (48x12)
i'm thinking a 2" bed.

how do i calculate how many lbs of live sand to buy?

 

Let me look for the calculator. I seem to have miss placed it.

 

Found it

MarineDepot.com

 

sweet. that would be awesome.

i'm thinking somwhere around 45-50lbs?

i just dont wanna have too much/too little.

 

46.67

i guess that was a pretty good call!

i'll get 50 and call it good

 

While I agree that live sand provides major benefits, only a small amount is needed to seed dry sand. You could save a few dollars by using dry and topping it with a small bag of live or even just a cup or two from a local reefer if you know one.

 

You may want to consider no sand/substrate. I run a sandless set up in my DT. Would never go back to sand substrate.

 

does it take longer to cycle the tank if u use mostly dry sand?

 

Depends. On several unknown/unforeseen factors. Most likely yes . But every tank Is different. My tank and your tank May cycle at diff rates depending on :How much live rock will be in the tank, vs how much base rock? Will all the sand be dried out? Or will you seed with some live, cured sand from another system ?

What equipment are you using , the silicates in our equipment leach in the water , promoting algae which could affect the cycle in minuscule amounts. ( diatoms come to mind ). Although it's an indication it's probably on the end of the nitrogen cycle it's still not the only indication it's over. When nitrite reading is undetectable, and all the ammonia has dissappated. Your left with small amounts of nitrate which is okay in certain concentrations per volume of water. 5ppm 10ppm aren't wildly out of whack #'s.

There are products like microbacter 7 and bio spira which help accelerate the cycle with the addition to beneficial bacterial colonies needed for the conversion of ammonia to trite to trate.. I've used bio spira on my last 100 gallon system with no I'll affects. Hope this helps

 

sweet. definitely does.

i know patience is everything.

i plan on using rodi water, about 40lbs dead rock, about 20lbs live rock. idk if that makes any difference.

and yes, i planned on buying some of that stuff to speed up the cycle.

are the test dip strips really that bad for saltwater?

i had an 80gal cichlid show tank, and 5 other tanks when i lived in CA, and that's all i ever used. worked great for FW.