how sand does it take for 4 inch sandbed

[seahorseguy]

im stocking a 75 gallon tank and i was wondering how many pounds of lsand does it take for thee tank to be filled with 4 inches of sand on my tank........and im also getting worried about the actual weight that is going into my tank....i have 36 pds of lalo LR,36 pds fiji LR and 20 pds of LR and i am going to assume that it likely its going to be about 70-90 pds of sand. thats almost 200 pds before the water is even added. i hav a oceanic tank ......how much weight do most of you have in your tank compared to the size of your tank...any help will be great.....thank you

 

[oregonbud]

I think you will need between 130-150lbs of sand to acheive the depth you want.
As far as the weight is concerned, as long as you have a sturdy stand, that is placed on a sturdy surface(flooring with braces etc) you should be fine.
The majority of the weight is on the bottom of the tank, water pressure will push outwards against the walls of the tank, but the weight of the rock, etc should not affect the sides of the tank (this of course is going under the assumption that your tank is set on a level surface)
Just to give you an example - I have a 55g, with 120lbs of sand, 70lbs of LR, probably 20lbs of dead coral skeletons (that I really am planning on taking out of the tank someday) then you figure your water weight at 8lbs per gallon, and thats nearly 600lbs total inside the tank, I havent noticed any problems. Again just be sure that the tank is setting on a sturdy piece of flooring - if you can place it along a brace its even better, you shouldnt have any problems at all.

 

[spsfreak100]

What's the length and width of the aquarium? Both length and width play a great role in determing the sandbed area. Without that I couldn't give you the correct amount of livesand to buy.
Graham

 

[jb1]

i have a 75 with 160 lbs of ls and the bed is about 4"

 

[hondo]

Sand Bed Calculator:
(all in inches)
Tank Length X Tank width X Desired depth of sand Bed X .0579 = LBS of sand necessary