how much sand?

[jacksonpt]

I've got a 75g reef with CC that I want to convert to LS. I'm also setting up a 44g hex corner that will be LS as well. The 75 is 48"x18"x20", and the 44g is 22"x22"x24" I want 4"-5" in both tanks. The HD near me does not carry Southdown, but I found a HD near NYC that does. A friend is going to pick some up for me, but I need to know how much I will need. I was thinking around 50-60lbs for the 45g, and about 125lbs for the 75g. Sound about right?
Thanks

 

[kris walker]

There is an equation, and hopefully some one will post it (I forgot). It will allow you to calculate how many pounds of sand to get for a certain depth sand bed. Are you thinking of a 4-6 DSB? Or just a shallow LS bed? If you have or hope to get several fish for either of your tanks, I would suggest you go with a DSB.
EDIT: oops, just read you want 4-5 in.
kris

 

[q]

It took 170 lbs in my 75 to get 4 inches. I used ESV sand. Not sure on the differences in weight between the brands.
I would get at least 200. The sand is cheep so you can always throw away what you don't use or save it for another tank .

 

[broomer5]

It took 150 lbs in my 75 - same dimensions as your jackson.
That gave me about 5-6 inches - but it was mixed sugar size and aragonite sand.
Q said it !
Get as much as you friend can handle. I know people that will buy any left over
Plus it's inexpenisve - relatively

 

[nm reef]

Length(inches) x width(inches) x desired depth x .0579 = lbs of sand for DSB
Buy all you can and sell the rest....plus I'd suggest at least 1 20lb bag of Natures Ocean ls in each system....great stuff to start a DSB with

 

[wastedincome420]

Well I had a cool program that was used to calculate the sand depending on the brand SD,etc. But it was lost in the last computer crash.
So I found another one(which I dont like as much)
For you 75g it calls for 175# for a 5" DSB
As for the hex (I'm sure its off a bit because I entered it as a 22"x22" square) but its calling for 98#
I would say pick up atleast 300#=6 bags of southdown. Grab a couple xtra bags because you never know you might want some for a refugium or something
Hope this helps

 

[jacksonpt]

Thanks for the info everyone. I'll have him pick up 250lbs of it to split between the 2 tanks. Then I'll add 40lbs of LS to the 75 and 20lbs LS to the 44.