Is This Too Much Sand In A Frag Tank

grubsnaek

Active Member
i ordered a bunch of sand for my 20L frag tank and enough for a bigger frag tank down the road. so i started putting some in. and noticed i was at a 4.5" DSB in the frag tank, still have 60lbs left over. but is this too much sand in the DT for a frag tank
 

reefkprz

Active Member
I wouldnt think so. especially if your going to be feeding some types of frags, a DSB will help de nitrate.
 

renogaw

Active Member
make the fuge about 6" to be a true dsb, 4.5 is skirting the edge of disaster--its deep enough to make some of it dsb, but shallow enough that it can get disturbed.
the deep sand in the frag tank will just allow the frags to be closer to the light i guess :)
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
thanx guys i really wasnt sure but it looks sick in person though. i will add some sand later to the fuge. in the middle of cooking right now.
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
i ordered 120lbs. i already had the sand for the fuge. and still have 60lbs extra. i ordered so much cause i am going to be upgrading in about 6-7 months to a 40L with prob a 27g sump. so i ordered enough sand now. but heres the thing. the site said for a 20L i would need 120lbs for a 4" DSB. but they were way wrong. cause again i have 4.5" DSB with 60lbs extra. what to do what to do. i have to much stuff in my main reef tanks fuge to put the extra sand there.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
dont forget the sand will settle out some, you'll probably lose about 3/4 inch of that depth from settling.
 

maxalmon

Active Member
Either 2" or 6" is pretty much the rule. Store the dry sand in a sealed homedpot bucket, just make sure it's dry before you store it.
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
Originally Posted by maxalmon
Either 2" or 6" is pretty much the rule. Store the dry sand in a sealed homedpot bucket, just make sure it's dry before you store it.

should i take some out
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
as i was pouring it in, i was thinking this is just like a small reef setup a DSB in the DT and the fuge. i didnt add any sand to the fuge yet, but thinking about it. its a frag tank so there going to be coral in it, so whats the difference between a reef tank and a frag tank, or is because its not over the 6" mark.
 

maxalmon

Active Member
Originally Posted by grubsnaek
as i was pouring it in, i was thinking this is just like a small reef setup a DSB in the DT and the fuge. i didnt add any sand to the fuge yet, but thinking about it. its a frag tank so there going to be coral in it, so whats the difference between a reef tank and a frag tank, or is because its not over the 6" mark.
There really is no difference between a coral tank and a frag tank. Frag tank just has bunches of tiny corals with grid work (don't have to have grid work) to organize the corals
.
IMO the DSB for a tank of that size is not needed and I would reduce it to 2" and not put any in the sump.
.
The LS is more for buffering the pH and surface area. With a 2" bed you don't have to worry too much about it being disturbed, but with a 6" DSB you don't want it disturbed...
.
I know this is going to start a war over DSB's, but they are over rated and a PIA. Makes the front of the tank look crappy and at some point they will crash.
I've had tanks with DSB's and they have their advantages, but with frequent water changes, good feeding skills, effective skimming and large LR volume you have the same results, plus you don't lose 25% of your tank volume to sand
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
the only thing i dont have on the tank is a skimmer.i do have about 20-30lbs of tonga branch rock in the fuge, but not that much in the over all system
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
the sand has settled to just under 3.5". and theres still air bubbles so it might still drop. should i still consider taking it out.
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
this sucks, im gonna have to try and scoop as much 14lbs of live sand that is on top of the rest of the sand. i used 14lbs to seed the rest of the sand. so ill have to scoop that out, then some more sand, and put back in the live sand to seed the rest. then put it all in a bucket.
 

grubsnaek

Active Member
well max i took your advice. i scoped out a bunch of it. going to wait till its dry, prob in a couple of days, then add the 60lbs and store it in my shed with a lid. when needed should be good base sand then seed with the rest of the sand that i left in the tank, here are some shots.


 
Top