is it good to have a lot of sand in your reef aquarium

[jureprek]

Someone told me that it is not good if you have sand in your reef aquaria, what do you think.

[mgk65]

Do not listen to that person!

Having a 4-6" very very fine ( average size = 0.25 mm ) sand bed is very beneficial.

See this site for info on sand beds:
http://sites.netscape.net/douglxyzzy/sandbed.html

Here are a couple more links from cwa46:
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulleti...?threadid=15880
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulleti...?threadid=15285
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklo...mek_090698.html


mgk

[saltjunkie]

i am moving this to the reef aquarium section so that it may get more replies.
Ialso agree that a deep sand bed in the tank is very beneficial

[Biomanjcs72]

Amen and Amen....^^^^^^^

[reefhead]

great benifit

[SPasse]

Jureprek,

First of all, WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

A fine particle live deep sand bed (a.k.a. as a DSB), is one of the most positive contributors to successful low maintenance reef aquarium.

Some years ago, when sand bed ecosystems were not well understood, reef keepers kept bare bottomed “Classic Berlin” systems that typically featured no substrate whatsoever. This is still a viable approach, but would certainly not be my choice today.

Improperly set up DSB’s can be problematic.

Here is another good link to Dr. Ron’s WEB page. Dr. Ron and Rob Toonen are considered two of the “founding fathers” of current DSB theory.

http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

Also, I show this system in use on my current reef at this address:

http://www.homestead.com/spasse/

I will be happy to answer any specific questions on how to go about setting one up.

Regards,

Scott

[Neal359]

it use to be the popular thing about 2 years ago and my lfs has a 230 with no sand best looking tank i have ever seen but he even sees that you need some 1-2 inches. he isnt a big fan of the dsb but still tells people you need to have some on the botem

[donho]

I've visited Scott's site and am impressed with the combination approach to DSB and the "Miracle Mud" sump. I have some questions.
1) Is the stuff in the sump actually "Miracle Mud" or your own concoction?
2) Why did you wait so long to stock corals?
3) Where do you get most of your livestock?

I am in process of converting a fish-only 60 gallon marine aquarium to a reef setup and have spent countless hours reading info on the internet. I believe a deep sand bed is in keeping with my "Natural as much as possible" philosophy. I am still undecide whether to go with a skimmer or an "eco-sump". This is my first foray into reef, although I have been salivating over the opportunity for many years. Ron Shimek and Rob Toonen are welcome breaths of fresh air in both their writing style and content, so I'm taking the plunge.
My intent is to go power compact lighting retrofits, a 50-50 mix of silica play sand and oolitic aragonite, a 15-20 gallon sump, kalkwasser DIY water top-off at the sump, and slowly build up detrivores and non-SPS corals.
Thanks for any answers and suggestions.

[Joaco]

One more link to deep live sand beds:

http://www.wyx.com/iheo/tank/live-sand.htm

Joaco

[jureprek]

tank you al for giving me advice. i hope you don't mind if i will ask you some stupid questions. I'm just a beginner and i wan't to know as much as i can about reef keeping.

Thanks!


I am also interesting for what i must be most carefull, when i am keeping reef

[SPasse]

Donho,

1 The mud in the mud bed is the actual ‘Miracle Mud” for my system, I am using 30 lbs. The miracle mud does seem to have certain micro nutrients such as iron that stimulates the caulerpa growth. Also, it hosts a diverse fauna community of worms, pods, micro brittle stars, and snails.

2 Although this system probably could have been brought up faster, waiting 6 months before adding corals too a reef tank is still not a bad idea. Indeed, many European reef keepers routinely wait a year before adding SPS corals and clams. As this was going to be a “no-skimmer” system, I wanted to make sure that there were no protracted hair algae battles to deal with.

3 I bought most of my livestock from two LFS, Reef Gallery and Denver Aquatics.

Regards,

Scott