Sand bed...

[beadebaserrrr]

How deep should the sand bed be for my 72g bowfront?

 

[skipperdz]

varies from person to person. some say 1.5-2 inches others say 2-3. heck some people have more. id go no deeper than 3 though. deeper than that and you stir the sand can give ya some ammonia probs

 

[beadebaserrrr]

alright, i was going to just do 1.5"... I was just making sure that was sufficient enough

 

[skipperdz]

should be good...thats roughly 60 lbs of sand i believe 3 bags. i have to bags in my 55

 

[1journeyman]

General opinion is less than 2 inches or greater than 4 inches. No in between.

 

[royal gang]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
General opinion is less than 2 inches or greater than 4 inches. No in between.
Is 4 ok?

 

[wiluven]

Well the rule states greater than 4 inches..so if you go 4.000001 inches you should be good.

 

[royal gang]

Lol

 

[1journeyman]

I think anaerobic bacteria probably starts to thrive in the botom of 3 inches of sand...
So ya, for a deep sand bed 4 inches is great. Remember, though, aragonite sand does dissolve over time, so you'll have to add sand as the years go by.
Also, for a deep sand bed to function properly to need to make sure you have plenty of micro critters in it, brisk current, strong skimming, no "dead" zones in current, no sand "sifters", etc.

 

[royal gang]

Aragonite dissolves??? I just bought 40 lbs of it, how fast does it dissolve?

 

[essop3]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
General opinion is less than 2 inches or greater than 4 inches. No in between.
Amen.
It takes a long time to disolve. If your using a dsb you should add a few pounds of live sand every 6-12 months anyway. That should more than keep up with how much is disolving.