confused on sand depth

[mp32]

I looked on the live rock live sand section on this web site and it told me for a 1" sand bed I need 70lbs of sand, my lfs told me that seems too small of an amount for a 180. I bought 80 lbs of aragonite and when I read that it says 1lb per gallon. So what is the prefered depth I am not going deep in the DT I will in my fuge. I understood 1/2 inch to 2" for shallow is this correct. Is 80lbs enough for the DT?

 

[spiderwoman]

What are the dimensions of your 180? That dictates the amount of sand you'll need to cover 1inch of the bottom.

 

[mp32]

24x72 are my dimensions. the only thing is, is Iam wondering if I should go with theirections that are on the bag?

 

[spiderwoman]

I think that is a bit light for those dimensions. I'm going with 160lbs of LS for our 150, maybe even more. I already have 60lbs of dry aragonite and 20lbs of LS and have an order out for 100lb of LS. Dimensions of my tank are 72x18.

 

[mp32]

I added up the sand depth on the calculator on this site and if I go with 180 pounds of sand it puts me in the 2" range on depth, which from what I have read is not a good depth to be at correct? So again I ask do I go with the directions on the bag or do I put in less or more? I know it is probably a stupid question to ask but I really do need to know, I want to make sure I do everything right the first time around.

 

[spiderwoman]

The way I'm planning on adding the sand is this...
I order more than I need because I'll be adding it to the large refugium too. I pour in the sand and see when I reach about 1.5 inch level on average. You don't want to have an *even* bottom, but wavy or different depths at different parts of the tank. Also add your LR first and then the LS around.

 

[mp32]

That does make sense because i was not thinking about the rock. I will have a refugium also so I will need the extra sand. Someone wrote on here not to buy the live sand that is in the bags, is that personal preferance or are they a waste of money?

 

[spiderwoman]

I've only had good experience with the bagged LS. I'm using Arag-Alive Special grade reef sand in 20lb bags. Yes it's more expensive, but I haven't had the nasty sand storm in my 75 when I set it up in March. For the 150 I do have 60lbs of dry sand that I got really cheap from a fellow reefer in our club. I couldn't pass on a good deal.

 

[mp32]

You have been a great help, thank you

.

 

[spiderwoman]

You are welcome