to late to add a deep sand bed???

[Trillyen]

Ok here in a few days both my 125 gallon and my 75 gallon will be like 3 months old

my 75 gl, is a reef tank and i been having problems raising my calcium, probably because of low mag but im not sure cause i cant find a salifert mag test which i hear is the only one worth having

any who in the process of finding one i ran into a guy at my lfs that was telling me that i should add a deep sand bed to my refuge, so that the benifical bacteria would establish a balance and decide which levels of the sand to live at and in turn have a positive effect on my tank,

in my experience so far ive come to find that what works for 1 may not work for another, and so on and so forth.

would this or could this help my cal levels??

i wouldnt think so but in this crazy hobby anything is possible

my cal is like 300 my alk is like 11 dkh my ph is around 8.2

0 ammonia and bad stuff

thanks hope this is the right forum!!!

[Sk8r]

No, just get a funnel and matching hose, get some dry aragonite, and put hose equal to the desired depth of your tank on the end of the funnel, pour a cup of sand in and let the sand drop to the bottom. Go a cup every few days, and you shouldn't have a cycle, appreciably: you may get some green algae, so stand by for that, but the sand will enliven over the week, ready for the next cupful. YOu can proceed about as fast as your tank will take and enliven the new sand WITHOUT CYCLING---ie, depends on your tank size how much you can get in at a drop, and I'd say with a 75g, one cup. Test a lot during this process, and if you don't get any rise, you're ok.

[Trillyen]

i was just planning on washing the sand off really good before i used it for like 3 days

would live sand be better to use???

would i still have a cycle???

Do i really need a deep sand bed

could i feel up a bucket with sand and set it in my refuge, or even just a big glass beer mug full of sand and use that for a deep sand bed

thanks !!!!

[pjf]

Originally posted by Trillyen
a guy at my lfs that was telling me that i should add a deep sand bed to my refuge

What do you have in your refuge now?

During a water change, you can empty your refuge and add fine aragonite sand. There is no need to wash your sand according to Dr. Ron Shimek (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=145960). Nevertheless, I would fill the refugium with water and let it settle into the sand before turning the flow back on.

The advantage of a DSB in the refuge is that you would not need to keep it lit as a macro algae refuge would need to be. The disadvantage of a DSB is that you will have to use fine sand and maintain a flow over it to keep detritus from settling under the sand.

Yes, you can use a bucket (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=595109).

[Trillyen]

Hey thanks that help alot

i guess i cant have 1 cause i was just wanting to add a glass beer mug full of ooilite sand to my refuge

would that be ok, probably not cause i have to keep the sand bed dark correct.

So could i use a plastic up with a lid over it but holes in it so water can pass through

the cups would be no bigger than a small size cup at mickey Ds (not kiddie size)

would this be of use!!

[moumda]

Befor I would add a dsb to raise calcium I would look at using Randy's 2part addition. Check out the chemistry forum. IMO a dsb doesn't add much for buffering (adding cal and alk). Primary use of a dsb is critter production and denitrate. I use a dsb in a bucket for nitrate reduction and cheato for pod procuction. No dsb.