[SaltyNewb]

One store told me 3" and another told me 1" or so. What do you guys think?

Thanks

[Poseidon]

4" is the common denominator around here... 1" would be useless, except for aesthics!

By the way Welcome to Reefland.

[SaltyNewb]

thank you!

[SaltyNewb]

oh and why is 1" useless? I need at leat 3" you think?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by SaltyNewb

One store told me 3" and another told me 1" or so. What do you guys think?

Thanks

I think it all depends! How's that for a definitive answer?

If you want to use crushed coral, I wouldn't go with anything more than 1/2" depth. Of course, I wouldn't go with crushed coral, but that's beside the point.

If you are using aragonite sand, I would go with a minimum of 3" but some folks go with more or less, depending on other factors. If you are using fine particle aragonite sand, I would say that the sand bed should be at least 3.5" deep, with 4"-6" being even better if that can be worked into your particular setup. If not, go with 3.5".

If you use fine particle aragonite sand, you may have to restrict the amount of water flow that you can run through your tank without generating a sand storm. This is not a problem until you get into very high flow situations but if you really want a very high flow situation, you should probably choose a larger particle aragonite sand.

There are arguments that can be made for and against almost every combination of substrate depth and particle size. The correct answer depends on what you want to keep, how much water current you expect to have and what methods you find personally satisfying. Sand beds are required for a lot of animals -- certain host anemones, certain sand sifting fish, many wrasses, holothurians, polychaetes, strombids, etc., and they add to the biodiversity of your system.

There is no one correct answer to your question. There are several different approaches that will work. Which is best for you depends on a whole list of other questions.

[sambo]

My local fish store had said 4". I have a 29 gallon tank and i have 80 lbs. of sand in the bottom...Thats just me. The guy at the fish store did some calculations as to how much sand is needed, let me see if i can find it somewhere and i will post the formula.

[sambo]

Here is a calculator where you plug tank dimensions in and the amount of sand you want in the bottom. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/calcs2.php?type=sanddepthI would stay stick with about 4 inches

[SaltyNewb]

thanks sambo for the formula. I have increased the bed to 2 " already, but it just looks so deep since the 29 gallon isn't that tall. I guess it's better than 1/2"?

[sambo]

Originally Posted by SaltyNewb

thanks sambo for the formula. I have increased the bed to 2 " already, but it just looks so deep since the 29 gallon isn't that tall. I guess it's better than 1/2"?

It will look REAL nice with the 4" sandbed. Believe me. I was a bit skeptical as well and once i did it, i see it looks much nicer. All my friends ask, "why do you have so much sand?". I hated adding more, since it clouded my water up for DAYS. But do it slowly, and reach the 4"