sand bed depth

how many inches of sand do i need to put to have areef aqaurium and why

 

You need at least a 4 inch sandbed. To house the bacteria needed to transform nitrates and keep your water quality high.

look here.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=241

Jay

 

The question I would ask you, is what are you trying to achieve with the sand bed....?

You can have NO sandbed (or bare bottom tank) where you can have flow out the wazoo with no sandstorms, you can have just a covering of the bottom (1 - 2 inches) which is what I have and this is just for appearance(does have life in in, pods, worms starfish, snails..etc), or you can have a deep sandbed (DSB) which is done mainly for nitrate reduction.

I have the 2 inch sand in my display and a 4 inch sandbed remotely, in my refugium. To date, I have zero nitrates.

So, what are you trying to do with the sandbed?

 

I agree with BL, need more info. BUT..as for what I have...I have about 2 inches in my tank. The 4-6 " required for a deep sand bed would have looked bad in my tank (too much sand, and not enough water). 2" is good if you are not going for the DSB as it allows plenty of room for critters (worms,etc.) but it is not to deep to stir and clean regularly.

 

sorry dont know how to get around the site to good ;how long would you reccomend to run my tank before putting corals in

 

A tank must cycle first
you also need to chemicals on track such as calcium, salinity, ph
dkh.
No nitrates, no nitrites, no ammonia

 

Do you have live rock?
What kind of filtration are you using?

 

125lbs live rock and amiracle wet dry filter';have not chosen skimmer yet

 

its hard to say but one thing is for sure not all corals are good to start with
sps are in my opinion the hardest and need an older tank
coralmorphs are probably the most easy most softys are easy

 

thanks kb bear;what kind of in line skimmer do you recomend; and should i put a dbs in my sump if i dont like more than 1or2 inches of sand in my display