super shallow sand bed??

[reefkeeper135]

OK so I read alot about the good and bad of a DSB and about a DSB vs BB I personally do not llike the look of a BB tank but the thought of an eventual sand bed crash bothers me as well. So is there anything wrong with a sand bed of say .5 to 1 inch just to cover the bottom glass and give it the look of a true reef? if you were to skim aggresivelly. Has anyone tried this, any comments for or against?

[reefkeeper135]

hummmmmmmm, no one??

[Tommy3492]

it would be like 10 times easier to have a real deep one, 3-5 inch

[reefkeeper135]

Why? whats the disadvantage? advantage?

[LobsterOfJustice]

Plenty of people do this, myself included.

[Tommy3492]

having a deep sandbed tank some nitrates, and other chemicals, but there is the anoxic zones which may leak the toxic chemicals from the sandbed into the tank, if you dont sture the sand periodically, and algea growth is evident in the deeper sandbeds.

[kydsexy]

do some research on dsbs

stir the sand once the initial cycle has passed. then wait it out. you can't stock a cycled dsb like a shallow bed. you have to wait for the anaerobic bacteria reach the bottom of the dsb. much more to it, you just have to be a million times more patient.

[GoldeneyeRet]

Thats what I do and it has worked well for me.

The drawbacks are you cannot have high enough flow to keep detritus suspended without a sandstorm and you do have places for sediment to accumulate while sacrificing the filtration a sandbed provides.

I solve these problems by vacuuming the sand regularly (replacing it as needed) and having the sand primarily in the front section with a good currrent washing through the rockwork from the back. I have my main return do that job while the supplemental flow is provided by powerheads. You obviously need more liverock and better husbandry such as diligent in tank cleaning and manual detritus removal.

This has worked very well for me for many years. I have tried other things and this is what continues to work. I have had a Dino problem in the past, but have beaten it for over a year now and have concluded it had nothing to do with inadequate nutrient export or filtration. It really does work good for me.

GER

[DOTZ]

I did a shallow sand bed in my 29 I just set up only about 1/2 inch deep and I like it. The only problem I have so far is keeping it from getting blown around but I'll just have to add a new powerhead and it will be fine.

[the floor guy]

if it shallow u will end up haveing some area showing bb as fish and power head blow it around my clown moves it into piles with his tail

[reefkeeper135]

I didnt think you should stir a sand bed once established, wouldn't that release a lot of "bad" stuff into the tank?

[kydsexy]

in reference to goldeneyes vacuuming? or mine? i've never done it any shallow beds. but in dsbs, it's important to get any trapped gases out during the immediate cycle. and then a few times before you add any fish. this helps the bacteria move through the sand bed faster. still dont rush