What does sand do?

Some people put a few inches of sand in the bottom of their fuge, what exactly does this do? Could I just use any sort of (well rinsed) medium grade sand?

 

Many micro organisms and creatures live in the sand, some macro algae's and mangroves live in the sand. If you look into "live" a.k.a. established sand you will see
Worms of various species
Tunnels of small organisms
Pods
Etc
Any sand will work as long as it's reef safe

 

If you want to save money, you could use play sand from Lowe's. That's what I did for my DT. You're going to want to rinse it in a bucket very well. Then you can add pods and whatever else you want. If you buy live sand, you're going to get a lot of different critters, which is usually a good thing. It's a lot more expensive, though.

 

Some people put 6-8 inches of sand in the refuge for a deep sand bed. The deep sand beds help reduce nitrates.

 

I already have some live sand in my DT, lots of little feather dusters etc. Could I add sand to my DT, and Fuge then put some live sand in the fuge to seed?

 

Are you asking if you could add play sand to the tank, then the answer is yes. I know lots of people who have mixed sand. You could also do the same with the fuge. The bacteria and critters with multiply in the play sand. Just remember what I said WASH THE PLAY SAND WELL. There is usually some dust. What I did was put the sand and a hose in a bucket and let the hose run slowly until the bucket starts to fill up. Then, I stirred the sand with my hand and let the dust float to the top. I then let the water overflow and let some of the dust out of the bucket. Then, I dumped the water out, but kept the sand in the bucket. I repeated this 2-3 more times until nothing was floating on the top of the water. Your goal is to clearly see the sand through the water. You can then let the sand dry, if you want. Then you can add it to your DT and fuge. I recommend doing it slowly so you don't cause a mini sandstorm in your tank lol. I used a shallow tupperware container and scooped some of the sand out of the bucket. Then I slowly lowered it down into the water and laid it at the bottom of the tank. I then repeated the process until I had the right amount in the tank. I hope this helps!

 

you want the finest sand you can get if your using it in the fuge - don't rinse it either, the surface area of the powdery layer supports an exponential amount of beneficial bacterial life compared to the regular grains of the sand.

I recommend this

 

I'm just saying that he should rinse the sand if he's using play sand.

 

I'm probably going to use play sand, just because it's what I have access to currently.

 

ok, just be aware you will get diatom blooms with the play sand no matter what you do to it, it will be a reoccuring issue till they eat all the silicate contained in the sand.