How much sand?

lefty

Active Member
It depends on the particular size/brand of the sand you'll be getting, but a rough estimate would be about 50-100lbs of sand. :)
(50 lbs. for 2" and 100 for roughly 4")
-lefty
 

chingchong

Member
isn't there a diff between using reef sand and sugar sized sand for a DSB? in any case, i have about +80# in my 55 gal.
 

chingchong

Member
i put 20# of live sand (reef sand), put 60# of sugar sized sand on top and seed the top with 5# of live sand again
 

mudplayerx

Active Member
Seed/Live sand is sold at your local fish store at about $35 for 20 pounds. You can find it by looking for a bag of sand that also has water in it.
You really only need one bag of it to spread out on top of your sand unless you have a large tank 125gallons+
 

willie_6

Member
What does everyone think of using dead sand as a base, with live sand on top?
What works best for dead sand?
What is a good amount of sand (in inches) to put in a tank? I have read 4 is good, but seems deep.
Ps....My tank is 75 gal.
 

swnewb

Member
Depth depends on what you are wanting out of your sand. You can use as little as 1" if it is just for looks, but if you want it as part of your filtration, you need a deep sand bed (DSB) which is 4" or so.
 

acrylic51

Active Member

Originally posted by SWNewb
Depth depends on what you are wanting out of your sand. You can use as little as 1" if it is just for looks, but if you want it as part of your filtration, you need a deep sand bed (DSB) which is 4" or so.

If you want a DSB I would recommend doing it in your sump/fuge area and not in your main tank... There have been several articles on this subject and alot of people aren't aware or informed on the proper maintenance of a sand bed as well...
A DSB isn't required to properly run a reef tank... Fact being that the nitrification and denitrification process that ocurrs in the sand bed ocurrs in the 1" of sand, so basically the other 3" are wasted in my opinion.... Just do some research and there are several articles out there on this very subject
 

mudplayerx

Active Member

Originally posted by Willie_6
What does everyone think of using dead sand as a base, with live sand on top?
What works best for dead sand?
What is a good amount of sand (in inches) to put in a tank? I have read 4 is good, but seems deep.
Ps....My tank is 75 gal.

Just buy fiji pink aragonite (its not really pink) for your dead sand. Get 2 and a half inches of that, and top off with about 25-30 pounds of live sand.
 
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