Sand or No Sand?

I ran a 20L BB for a little bit and I will never do BB again. You think it makes for a cleaner tank, but I found that detritus would gather in one corner of the tank and would look unsightly. You can suck it out during a water change but I found that to be a pita. I now have a 1-1.5" sand bed and don't think I'll ever do a BB tank again. I also find that with the white bottom and black background things tend to stick out better. Just my take on it though.

 

this is the reason i have a deep sand bed, i tried at one time to have a bare tank and to me it was to shakey meaning that the smallest amount of food would take forever to convert to cycle. if there were deaths and i couldn't get to it would foul to a greater degree, tube and fire worms disappeared and a host of other bad things happened, the only down side of the sand bed was how long it took to get to a beneficial part of the natural cycle of nature. here is a fair artical about dsb and how they help.


Ron Shimek's Website...Deep Sand Beds

 

Even after reading that article I'm still not convinced. Many of the fauna he is claiming that is in the sandbed will also be living in the liverock.

It also seems that he is recommending never to siphon the dirty stuff off of the sand, to let the microorganisms within take control and break it down them self but I have trouble seeing that pan out, I can try to not touch my sand bed for a few weeks and see what happens, I bet my fighting conch will appreciate that but I know it will turn brown with nastiness.

Don't get me wrong, I went against my LFS advice and added a sand bed because I felt the same way as most do about them - that they are a awesome source of life and beneficial for the nitrogen cycle. At the same time however I am still wondering about the guys I hear who replace their sand beds every year and complain how nasty the sand gets, among many other debates that sand beds are just crap collectors more so than a housing complex for micro bacteria and other tiny critters!

That's why I'm asking here on 3reef, where the pros play!

 

Heres why I like sand beds:

1. IMO BB tanks are ugly
2. Sand adds extra surface area for filtration
3. It's more natural
4. I'm assuming with a BB you can't have any burrowing gobies. Definatly not jawfish. Atleast you couldn't keep a goby HAPPY.

 

I have sand in my 20, and as of now it's almost all gone anyway. Doing water changes and cleaning it over time it depletes it fast. In my 75 I will have no sand, BB, with a dsb in my fuge/sump. I'll still have it, you just won't see it. I can only imagine bb being a breeze to clean. With high flow I don't see anything being able to settle in the tank. We shall see tho. I just wasn't pleased how many algae problems I've had with sand in my 20. I may add sand to my 75 if I see my dsb in my fuge clean as a whistle. But that's not set in stone.

 

SwimswithFish: My LFS has a goby that lives in his rock work and appears to be thriving! (Btw you don't want sand sifters in your tank if you are wanting your sand bed to work. When they sift the sand they are actually eating the organisms that you are wanting for your biological filtration) Here is what one 3reefer does with his BB, courtesy of stylaster's amazing and beautiful chalice tank! Is this ugly in your opinion?



I'm sure not sure about which side to go with anymore on this debate. BB or DSB I just don't know lol

SnooknRedz: (good name, love fishing for drums and snook) - I'm seeing a lot of comments here how we are not suppose to vacuum or siphon our sand beds. That we are to let the organisms in the sand take care of this them self. Another point that I am not understanding due to my lack of experience

PS- Also seems like for a DSB to work, one needs to have heavier granules on the bottom, topped with finer granules on top. I just have very fine substrate that is at most 3" deep in some places, and 2" in others. Not sure if that is even deep enough to be considered a DSB but at the same time, I do see lots of worms and other tiny critters crawling around that I would hate not having in my tank
(But I feel like if I removed all the sand, they would still be in the tank, just in the LR and not in the sand)

 

Yeah I don't siphon on my FW tanks and don't plan to on my reef. I wish I could see that picture, I'm on my phone.

 

Thanks man, there's nothing like it! As for not siphoning it, yes don't do it if you can help it. stirring up sand may leech nitrates or something in your tank(if it's been untouched for a long period of time). I did cuz I had both GHA and cyano on it and in order to rid it I had to siphon some sand. Reason why I wanna leave it out of my 75. If it does somehow get in the tank, my sand in my fuge will hold it, hopefully I won't tho. I have a watchman goby that likes the sand, but he's found holes in the rock where he's slept before. I'm not worried about sand for the purpose of a habitat for fish.

Way I see it. It be easier to add sand vs taking it out. If need be.

 

Guys have mentioned using the same rocks from an old tank that had sand in it, putting them in a new BB tank, and still finding sand over a year later lol. Kinda like @ the beach I guess where sand literally gets into every crevice, you come home from vacation and still have sand behind your ears and in other unmentionable places! haha . I definitely will go BB when I upgrade to a larger tank. Just one less thing to maintain. Although I would still think it would be something great to have in the sump

 

Cross your fingers you don't get GHA or cyano, then You'll be forced to. I didn't wanna but I had to.

BB tanks, if done like that tank shown are sweeeeet! Coralline algae all over looks so cool! I hope it takes over the bottom and back glass on my 75.

I understand it's not for some. And that's perfectly ok.