cleaning sand

[clown_33]

Hi I want to add sand to my tank soon..have a few questions. Which sand do i buy first off. Second, how do i clean the sand. And third when do I add live sand to it?

 

[salty_dog]

Originally posted by jwtrojan44:
<STRONG>I forgot to mention that once the sand bed is in place and established, you won't have to clean it. If you have a good clean-up crew for your tank, your set. The beauty of a dsb (deep sand bed) is that it is maintanence free! JWT</STRONG>

 

[salty_dog]

JTW--
Are you nuts....you dont need a 4 inch bed for your sand. That is way too much...110 lb for a 55 gallon is ridiclous!!!!! Try a 2 inch base.

 

[nm reef]

I'm one of the nutty ones........110 + lbs of mature ls in a 55 gal reef(plus another 50 or so in the 30 gal refugium attached to it)....yup nutty as heck.............nutty but ZERO nitrates and maintenance free

 

[javajoe]

As long as we are on the topic, I am going to be starting my reef soon, i DO live in the Northeast and hopefully have acces to southdown sand and have some questions.
1. What ratio of Southdown sand to Actual live sand?
2. Should i buy a bag of live sand, or should i buy live sand from the LFS?
3. How do i clean the sand BEFORE putting it in the tank?
4. Do I mix the sands together BEFORE putting in tank?
5. This is probably a dumb question, but do I put the sand in after the water? and if so, does the amount of sand i need to make a 4 inch DSB displace 4 inches of water? or is there anotyehr formula i should use to avoid having to 'bail out' the tank as i add sand?
Thanks in advance....
joe