LR or LS

adam & jeanne

adam & jeanne

Member
i am planning either lr or ls to my existing 55 gal FOWCC which has not cycled yet.
is their an advantage to either ls or lr over the other one?
i have two ugf plates beneath the cc.
if i use sand how much will i need to be safe to completely cover the bottom? how deep do I build it? can i leave the cc in?
any prepping for either lr or ls before putting it in?
thanks!!
 
kev

kev

Member
Why not both LR/LS? :D , this would be a great source of filtration for any marine tank, and it would also speed up your cycle BIG TIME. As for the depth of LS that is debatable, You could have anywhere from a 1-6in deep sand bed. As for LR I would go with anywhere from 1 to 2lbs per gallon of water that you have. If you are going to get LS, you will need to take out all of your CC bed. Some say that its ok to mix, but you mine as well take all the CC out, as it will eventually come to the top of the sand. :D
 
T

therock0861

Guest
I am going to be doing the same thing and now I know that with LR and LS a UGF wouldn't be necesarry anyway. I would go with both that is what I am going to do. It is gonna be a major pain in the butt for me because I already have fish. :D
 
marine qa

marine qa

Member
Adam & Jeanne,
Just so you know a 2-3 inch sand bed will not be a DSB (Deep Sand Bed). A DSB requires 4-6 inches. The reason for the depth requirement is that the lowest layers of the sand must be without oxygen and it is in these layers that wastes are converted to inhert material.
Furthermore, an UGF will not work with a DSB. If you want to keep the UGF (and I would not suggesst it) just keep the CC.
As suggested above, I would go with both LR and LS, and when both are in sufficient amounts a skimmer is all that is required for what is now considered to be the best reef tank filtration method.
As to your last question re the amount of sand required-there is a mathmatical formula which I don't remember off hand. However, in my 46g tank I used about 95lbs to achieve a 5-6inc DSB.
This 5-6inc DSB and roughly 1.6lbs of LR per gallon (not pictured on web-site) and a skimmer have produced perfect water conditions with only 5g monthly water changes for more than a year.
 
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