SeaFish Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 in my 20 gallon, i was wondering, how much sand do i really need? i currently have about 1-1.2 inch of live sand and exactly 18lb of live rock. is this enough sand or do i need more? Link to comment
Satchmo Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 If you like-a da way it looks, then it's enough. I'd add more rock though if it were my tank. Link to comment
SeaFish Posted January 13, 2003 Author Share Posted January 13, 2003 the thing is....my tank is pretty full from those 18lb of live rock. i dont think i can fit anymore live rock in there without overcrowding the tank with rocks. i was wondering with my minimum of 1 in live sand is that enough biologically? i have a hang on filter and a remora skimmer that comes with a maxi jet 1200 power head. would this be enough? Link to comment
technoshaman Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 I'm not an expert on sand beds but the general rules were about an inch for gas exchange or 3-5" for a dsb? And if you are going to do a DSB and cover it with rock you create more anoxic zones. The idea being to have open stretches of sand the microfauna can live in and gases can bubble up fromf. Dr. Shimek has a pretty good small abstract on sand beds here: http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm Also if you are using a sump or refugium or both you can make your sand bed in there and keep a shallow one for looks in main tank. My general understanding is most nano's are too small in surface area for you to get a lot of benefit from a deep sand bed. I made one anyways eh. Link to comment
SeaFish Posted January 13, 2003 Author Share Posted January 13, 2003 hum..i dont have a sump and i dont have any refugium. my concern is, with only an inch, this wont cause any problems further down the line when i add a couple more fishes and a lot mr corals right? so far i only have a xenia and a small maxima and both are doing great. my concern is will this one inch sand bed be enough biologically? i am not looking to making a deep sand bed since in a nano, space is very limited. what do you all think? Link to comment
technoshaman Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 You will be fine. Like I said it's the in between sizes between 1 and 3 inches that supposedly give funky results. No hard and fast rules and the variances in a nano are going to be that much more exaggerated. Link to comment
SeaFish Posted January 13, 2003 Author Share Posted January 13, 2003 thank you so much for your fast reply. =) Link to comment
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