mling April 21, 2004 Share April 21, 2004 I have been getting all kinds of conflicting advise on substrate depth. I have 3" to 4" of aragonite mixed with sand and a layer of crashed coral with shells above it, may be 1/4". Someone tells me I should not have 1 grain over 3" or I'll have lots of problems down the road since my tank is only a 50 gallon. Someone else tells me I need at least 4" since I plan to have a Jawfish. I guess I am taking a poll of opinions here since the 2 "someone’s" are LFS vendors and may not be totally objective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatortailale April 21, 2004 Share April 21, 2004 This is from a thread in member section; Michaelg's comments: OK I read through 6 pages of it.... FWIW- my education is probablly more that bombers (though I don't know him personally, and thus will not make a broad comment- but someone who works on the reefs does not of necessity understand the full dynamics of aquaria- always be skeptical- even with what I say ) and I have learned aquarium husbandry from the best.... Directly. Over Sushi, EricB who has been running tanks since the dawn of time, still will put a DSB in a tank.... I am still not convinced that sand beds are bad- as my personal observations prove the opposite- the life the sand provides can not be matched- yes this whole thing is people reverting back to "berlin tanks". Is there a full understanding of it yet, NO? I take my observations and use them for what they are worth. while not scientific, personal and "gut" feelings go a long way to understanding ones own tanks. Ron's " space and replinishment" Well give your sand away on a regular basis to others, and you have that covered... :p I'm sorry= I have known too many experienced people- and plenty in this immediate area, who use sand beds with healthy systems to think I need to not have it and that it is a bad thing. Part of the natural system, IMO is a dirty system. Try keeping xenia in one of those tanks, I'd bet a dollar it crashes in a couple months. Clams likewise. Same goes for salt mixes- I have been doing normal regular water changes with MEI salt for 3 months now, and have not seen a single bleaching event I can attibute to it, though others have had some real bad experiences... If I am unusual, I hope to figure out what it is and "put it in a bottle". That's my 10 cents on the matter.... Eric B = Eric Borneman --- As for me, I have a 5-6 inch crushed coal & sand mix in my 125 for 3.5 years and just added 4+ inches in my 120 I set up last August. IMO as long as you add critters ever 6 months or so to sand to keep it active, you should be fine. thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krish April 21, 2004 Share April 21, 2004 The 3-4" sand bed is good enough. The shells will trap detritus and might be an issue. -krish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg April 23, 2004 Share April 23, 2004 well Gaitortail already spoke on my opinion. The crushed coral might be a problem- I have never used it, so don't have much experience. Down at Tamie's coral tank at the zoo- I have never seen so many bugs growing in the sand. Can you scrape it over into a pile? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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