deep sand beds

[im_a_clownfish]

Hi all!

I have been reading about deep sand beds for saltwater tanks to keep nitrates and other bad chemicals to a minimum, and to buffer the tank/water as well.

I have about 60 lbs of liverock in a 65 galloon tank, and have 60lbs of aragonite ultra fine sand. Just wondering if that's enough sand. Its enough to make a nice layer on the bottom, but I have been reading that you need at least 3 inches of sand on the bottom of the tank. Is this for tanks with liverock? Or if I have a good amount of liverock is under 3 inches of sand on the bottom okay?


Oh, also, anyone have a good way of getting sand and sediment off of the rocks without clouding up the tank each time and having the silt/sand redeposit on the rocks?

Thanks!

[TheOldSalt]

With liverock, 1 to 1.5 inches of sand is perfect. Any more is actually not ideal, in fact, so you've luckily stopped right where you should have. All the action occurs in the top inch or so, and deeper than that things get very inefficient.

Turkey baster. You'll have to work on smaller areas at a time, but a turkey baster should solve your sediment problem quite nicely. Turkey basters are also very handy things for a reefkeeper to have anyway, so go ahead and get one.

[im_a_clownfish]

Thanks Old Salt!

Now, I dont have any fish or inverts in my tank yet (still waiting for the rock to cycle) but getting brown hair algae all over the place. In a week or two when I get some snails or reef janitors or cleaner shrimp, will they take care of the problem? HOw many inverts and what type shoudl I get for my 65gallon tank?

I do have the lights on a lot (and its in a room with a big bay window) to help the corraline algae and the liverock,but maybe I have it on too long? Or shoudl I only run one of my 92W bulbs and not both?

Also, will a bit of sediment hurt the liverock or the coralline algae by starving it of light?

[TheOldSalt]

Blue legs, or preferably scarlet-legged hermits can help a lot, but not really enough unless you have a simply ridiculous number of them.

The brown algae is just one of those things that new tanks have to endure. It will eventually go away, but it will help if you physically remove it regularly until it finally runs out of food and stops growing. Take steps to spur on your coralline growth and the coralline will help you get rid of the brown diatoms.

Sediment covering is called siltation on the reef, and it is deadly. Get rid of it.

There are numerous places where you can buy invert packages for certain sizes of tanks, and none of them seem to agree on what such packages should include. Personally, I like the packages from www.reeftopia.com & www.tampabaysaltwater.com . Tampa bay's stuff is more function-oriented, while reeftopia's is more of a blend of function and beauty.

What kind of rock did you get? From where did you get it? More to the point, why do you think it needs cycling?

[leveldrummer]

holy crap THEOLDSALT i had no idea all that cool stuff came on live rock, i just got way more excited about starting this tank. if i get some of these cool hitchhikers like that tampabaysaltwater site shows, are the 2x96w pc lights gonna be plenty to keep most of that stuff alive? i really like all the worms like feather dusters and such, the christmas trees are awesome too.

[flamingo]

Most of they're stuff should be okay in your lighting. Non of the inverts need great lighting except the coral, macro, and anemones which are greatly phtotsynthetic.

But first of all level, what kind of lighting do you have? In most cases watts don't count for a whole lot. Providing 100 watts of regular flourescent bulbs is defenitely not going to be as good as a 100 watt metal halide bulb, If that were the case a regular light bulb would be all you need.

Oh duh, didn't realize you already said you had pc lighting lol. As long as you don't get a lot of hard coral than you should be okay. Some of the lower lighting anemones do somewhat okay in pc lighting and so will most macroalgae.

other than that most of the stuff is pretty "easy" to keep. Some of the critters are filter feeders but most don't have great requirements.

[leveldrummer]

i dont have any lighting yet, im still shopping around and looking at stuff, so far i think im gonna go with the light i described above, but i dont have it yet so its not set in stone, i was just wondering because those feather dusters are super kick butt, and id like to keep some of them and the other worms if my lights will be ok.

[TheOldSalt]

You got your liverock BEFORE you got your lights?

*sigh*

How did you think you were going to keep your liverock alive? It has some pretty major light requirements, too. That pink & purple coralline ALGAE might not be green but it's still algae and very demanding algae at that.

When setting up a tank, ANY tank, you must first assemble all your the needed equipment before adding the living organisms.

Well, what's done is done. Before you do anything else, get some appropriate lighting over that tank, and be quick about it before your rock turns to brown goo.

[Fishfirst]

I don't think leveldrummer has any liverock yet

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by Fishfirst

I don't think leveldrummer has any liverock yet

bingo!! i dont have anything yet... its still a cichlid tank. i havent started the switch yet or all of you would have heard about it by now, i almost have enough saved up to get the protein skimmer and the lighting fixture. i was gonna go with a 2x96watt power compact, i was just asking that if i get some crazy stuff on live rock, are these lights going to keep it alive? i know anemones probably wont, but i was asking about the other cool stuff like the feather dusters and such that that article was talking about hitchhiking. i dont wanna kill anything i dont have too.

[TheOldSalt]

Whoops, sorry, my mistake. I got leveldrummer confused with i'm_a_clownfish.
Leveldrummer, get the best lights you possibly can. Lighting is NOT where you cut corners; if you do you'll regret it time & time again.

2x96 can work for many tanks, but not for some tanks. I forgot what the tank size is, but if it's especially long or tall you'll need more than that.

Feather dusters are not light-dependent.

[leveldrummer]

oh ok, i thought the worms were light dependent. i dont want to cut corners, but i also dont want to spend 2000$ and over shoot what i need, i just want to get what i need, if the power compacts arent adequate, what do you recomend?

[Fishfirst]

well if you only want a fowlr i see no reason to get more light for the 46? bow? You won't be able to keep everything on your liverock alive, but a lot of things you will be able to.