Need Help with a sand bed...

[hand_cuffer]

Hello to any with some great ideas on helping me set up my 55 gal .... So far I have 60 lbs of live pink fiji sand ( fine )Is this enough?.. .. Is it ok to use dry sand to mix in with the live sand?or should I use all live sand...I have also thought of mixing crushed coral with the live sand .......I would love to get the answers I am looking for !!!

[SAT]

This is a controversial issue and there is no single right answer. If you follow the deep sand bed model (DSB (http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm)) you'll add enough sand to make it 4" deep and you won't use any CC. Mixing in some fine sand is OK (my rule is it must have "play sand" on the label, indicating it's safe for children to eat).

A lot of people are now advocating shallower sand beds (1-2"). In the 2004 issue of Marine Fish and Reef USA, Richard Harker makes a strong case that a shallow bed is perfectly adequate. With a shallow bed the composition matters less, so a little crushed coral probably won't hurt. Whether a deep bed actually works better than a shallow one, or vice versa, has yet to be demonstrated.