substrate depth

[mling]

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.

[Gatortailale]

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

[krish]

The 3-4" sand bed is good enough.

The shells will trap detritus and might be an issue.

-krish

[michaelg]

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?