How deep and how many lbs of live sand for 55ga.

[fish_kisses]

Mr. Salty told me how to change from crushed coral to live sand, however how much sand and how deep do I go with it????

 

[rmf]

Can you forward the suggestions for changing from cc to sand? I am also thinking about doing that
Thanks

 

[kdlbem]

I just made the switch to LS, and I love it. One word of caution: stay away from sugar size aragonite! I used 60lbs. Natures Ocean(great stuff) and 30lbs. oolite(sugar size), and it took 5 days with an extra magnum 350, and a large whisper(on top of the wet-dry). Meanwhile a false perc & dottyback lived in a rubbermaid tub with a powerhead and heater for the whole five days. Filtered it so much that the skimmer took two days to start producing any foam at all afterwards. 90 lbs. toal gave me 3+ inches in a 75gal. tank.
HTH,
B

 

[coralbeauty]

I converted to LS about 6 months ago! It is so great! No more "sweeping" and cleaning cc. It stays clean and white all the time! I can do watch changes in all 3 tanks in less than an hour! You should love it!
As for how much, I did a DSB of almost 5 inches. I think I used 60 or more pounds. I have added a little over time. Several months ago Salty or Hermit posted the formula to calculate this. If you search old postings I bet you will find it.
Good luck,
Connie

 

[@knight]

i remember beth posting it about a month ago, however for a 55 gal, you will need about 100 lbs to get a 4" DSB. less if you make a plenum.

 

[fish_kisses]

would 80lbs be sufficient for my deep sand bed?

 

[dburr]

I used 4 bags of caribsea argonite sand, I think the bags were 40lbs. each. I did set up a plenum but that wont matter for depth.
I have about 4". Hope this helps.