Live sand bed

[mandarindragonets]

My tank has been running about 9 mos. I had a mandarin from day 1 until two days ago:eek2: :( But I will have another some day.....sigh

I have heard others talk of all the life in thier sand beds.. I bought 40 lbs of live sand and I never saw any life in the sand at all! but I suspect the mandarin for that. How do I get life to thrive again. Money is kind of tight at the moment since my son will be born in about two weeks, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated THANKS




I am currently working on my cocapod population which seems to be at zero. I have added some macro algae to the main tank. and I added about 1/2 cup of crushed coral from my brothers tank to the back of my own in hopes of somehow regenerating my cocapod population. Fingers crossed

My real question is this: Should I add a refugium? If so how big? My tank is 24"X18"X18" I have a PC 65 watt 50/50 and a 15 watt flourescent 50/50 on the main tank, do I need more lighting for a refugium? Do I need pumps and such to return water to the main tank? How does it all fit in?

[Entropy]

I would say a refuge is the way to go. Especially if you can get it above the main tank so it drains into the tank via gravity. This way pods that swim too close to the overflow will get sucked into the main tank without harm and provide tastey happy meals for your main tank critters. You can light the refuge if you want algae but pods like the dark so you don't need more than the 20 watts I am using. IMO