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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 7, 2013 16:08:10 GMT -5
So, Ive been writing in the reef to reef forum today and I decided to post some pics of my tank. I ended up getting a few negative thoughts on how deep my sand bed is.
My buddy has always run a deep sand bed and swears by it. He told me the nitrates turn into nitrogen and it helps filter out the bad. Ive been running it for 2 months now, although havent had it that deep for the whole two months, but i hAve worms growing but i dont see any bubbles. Any thoughts on this?
If you dont agree can you tell me in laymans terms why this is a bad idea? by laymans terms, i mean talk to me like you are writing a children's book LOL I'm still SO new to this!
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Jan 7, 2013 16:55:47 GMT -5
Having a deep sand bed can be great but you have to maintain it as well. The problem I see with your deep sand bed it looks like you only have coarse grain sand for the entire depth. You need to have at least 3-6 inches of fine grain sand with a shallow 1-2 inch layer of the coarse grain sand on top to create a low to no oxygen environment for anoxic bacteria to convert nitrite to nitrate and so on. I'll try to find some good articles on the basics of a deep sand bed to post.
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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 7, 2013 17:55:15 GMT -5
Should I take some of it out? I have thinner (kinda) sand on the bottom but the top two layers are def bigger flakes of sand! I just dont want it to crash my whole system out! ugh, theres SO much to this! It can be stressful LOL This is a pic of my sand bed up close....  dont mind the bit of salt on the rim of my tank lol |
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Post by gotareef on Jan 8, 2013 9:16:38 GMT -5
looks fine to me just when you do a waterchange vacuum a little of the top of the sand to get larger particles of nasties out (larger sand means larger pieces of nasties will get stuck)
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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 8, 2013 9:40:48 GMT -5
I actually don't have a vaccume. My friend told me If i vaccumed it that it would lose all of the good bacteria. I've also heard of using a turkey baster to mix things up before a water change. I'm so new to this. Sigh* lol
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Post by gotareef on Jan 8, 2013 10:11:55 GMT -5
your friend is half correct, you dont want to disturb the anoxic area. so you dont want to stir the sand bed up just clean spots in the top 1/2" of sand
you dont have to but it is easier than replacing 1/4-1/3 of the sand bed every year or two
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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 8, 2013 10:26:26 GMT -5
when you vaccume the sand how does a vaccume work? does it suck up all your sand or does it kinda filter out the bad stuff? Ive never seen or used one.
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Post by gotareef on Jan 8, 2013 15:04:43 GMT -5
it works by gravity. it lifts a little sand and sifts it, the nastys are light so they get sucked out and the sand falls back down
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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 8, 2013 15:10:21 GMT -5
ohhh, awesome! I think ill try getting one then! Thanks Reef!!!  |
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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 8, 2013 16:01:06 GMT -5
I now am running a rapids pro sump system. I got rid of my filter and it's bioballs but my sump has bioballs as well
as far as the sand, I didnt pay really for any of it. I got the first inch and a half with the tank, the second 2 inches worth free with some rocks I bought and the last few inches i got completely free on CL so it isnt a huge kick to the pants, but I do like the look better on a DSB. Whats the deepest you would recommend and have it be safe still?
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Post by gotareef on Jan 8, 2013 20:30:50 GMT -5
just put some fine sand in a little at a time for a couple weeks , stir it in a little and it will settle down to the bottom
I stay around 4" of sand but 5"-6" would be better also read up on plenums another option
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Post by lindsey1984 on Jan 8, 2013 22:52:17 GMT -5
thanks again reef! You're always really helpful and it's MUCH appreciated! |
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