live sand

[sean spendley]

Hey-
Wanted to use sand as a biological filter but was unsure about the dsb...will having only a half inch to an inch of good quality live sand still act as a nitrate reducer or does it need to be deep to have any effect at all. Thanks a lot.

 

[fshhub]

needs to be deep, the ls will help some, but the nitrate reduction actually occurs in the deep areas of the bed whihc are oxygen free, this is where the bacteria lives that completes the cycle
HTH

 

[sean spendley]

so really it is just a waste to buy live sand if only planning to keep about an inch of substrate?

 

[jester]

it wont be functial as a filer method, but all the critters in there are good for the tank.

 

[fshhub]

jester is right, it will house the critters which will help with the clean up, but it will not offer the full effect of nitrate reduction that was asked about, however with a skimmer, it will help and serve its purpose for aesthetics and some bacteria and ctritter clenaing
HTH