no sand bed or sand bed? pros and cons

[kratos1028]

I am thinking of removing most of if not all of my sand bed slowly. My DT has about 2-3" sandbed and I was thinking of either leaving about .5-1" in it for looks or removing it all. Not 100% sure yet on the on sand bed look. What are the pros and cons for having a sand bed that shallow and no sand bed at all?

Of course, I am only doing this because of a recent incident I had and maybe with no sand, there will be less for the parasites and what not to attach to and reproduce.

 

[Gary]

I do no sandbed so that the sand does not get all over my coral. I don't get the benefit of using it as a filter, but I do have some in my sump. Less filtration I guess is the biggest con imo. Limits you on some fish and such if your a fish guy.

 

[madjoe]

Imo tank aint a tank without sand. No sand makes easier cleaning though so thats a pro . About it holding more parasites they will mostlikely hide in rock before sand . It may help little but dont think to much. If u not gonna qt fish u taking a risk u will have to deal with if u get something . U can treat like my 90 but its even not fool proof things like flukes abd black ich yes black ich dont get killed by most stuff like copper. U need prazi to treat that kinda stuff and who keeps there tank dosed with prazi that chit aint cheap. I know u been buying angels left and right abd they r nortorius for flukes u could always fresh water dip and watch ti see if any fall off usually takes only few minutea if they have some to c one fall off. So any way since u going to be at school soon idk if u want to mess with tank what happens if something goes down when u gone . U parents know how to handle illnesses ?

 

[yogoshio]

A shallow sand bed provides almost no purpose except aesthetics. It becomes a detritus sink if its not cleaned thoroughly with nassarius snails and others, but it is just for looks unless its 6+ inches deep, and DSBs have their own longevity dangers such as sulfur hydroxide releases and more. BB is easier to clean but all that poop just absorbs into the sand otherwise, hence the need for CUC, otherwise it would build up a LOT and then stir it once and there's an ammonia and nitrate explosion.

It really just becomes a preference in looks. And livestock choices, as some fish/inverts require sand.

 

[kratos1028]

Imo tank aint a tank without sand. No sand makes easier cleaning though so thats a pro . About it holding more parasites they will mostlikely hide in rock before sand . It may help little but dont think to much. If u not gonna qt fish u taking a risk u will have to deal with if u get something . U can treat like my 90 but its even not fool proof things like flukes abd black ich yes black ich dont get killed by most stuff like copper. U need prazi to treat that kinda stuff and who keeps there tank dosed with prazi that chit aint cheap. I know u been buying angels left and right abd they r nortorius for flukes u could always fresh water dip and watch ti see if any fall off usually takes only few minutea if they have some to c one fall off. So any way since u going to be at school soon idk if u want to mess with tank what happens if something goes down when u gone . U parents know how to handle illnesses ?

Flukes, black ich, anything with worms, I can deal with easily now so that isn't a big problem anymore. I am doing round 1 of 3 with prazi right now.

Another big problem with the sand is that it stirs up so easily and becomes all piled up on either side of the tank making the center with about 1" sand bed and either side about 3-4". Any fish that decides to eat a pellet off the sand bed causes a little sand storm and the sand ends up falling all over the rocks. Gets kind of annoying after awhile....

What about swapping the sand or at least half of it with something a little heavier? Don't want crushed Coral though.

As for the parents and me going to school, I am trying to take care of as many things as I can now before starting so the tank requires as little maintenance as possible.

A shallow sand bed provides almost no purpose except aesthetics. It becomes a detritus sink if its not cleaned thoroughly with nassarius snails and others, but it is just for looks unless its 6+ inches deep, and DSBs have their own longevity dangers such as sulfur hydroxide releases and more. BB is easier to clean but all that poop just absorbs into the sand otherwise, hence the need for CUC, otherwise it would build up a LOT and then stir it once and there's an ammonia and nitrate explosion.

It really just becomes a preference in looks. And livestock choices, as some fish/inverts require sand.

So anything under 6" is useless to help with the nitrate? My fuge is currently 6"+ of sand but that is in a 29 gallon tank supporting a 125 with a 2-3" sand bed.

 

[madjoe]

Well no sand bed might be easier maintance for u then as long as u can keep rocks stabile still. Benifit of sand bed is keeping wrasses otber then that just looks so really up to what u prefer

 

[Tkroll0321]

I know I've told you a few times that I do BB and am really starting to like it. Once the coralline covered the whole bottom of the tank I don't feel like I notice much. Plus I am able to keep the flow really high and barely have anything to suck up during water changes. I read somewhere on a different forum where they were having this same argument that most people think a tank doesn't look natural without sand. But when you think of many giant reefs its almost quite the opposite. The reefs create walls and drop offs that reach up and away from any sand and many of the fish are there too. (The person I'm referring to was much more scientific but you get the point)

 

[Herbie]

When I moved my tank from one house to another I was forced to remove the sandbed. At first I was going to wash it and add it back slowly, but I gotta say I'm pretty sold on BB now. All of the det collects in two or three convenient spots and as the coraline fills in on the botom it starts to look a lot more natural. I am also having better growth than ever which may or may not be associated my a beter ability o control excess nutrient build up. I still have a 6" sb in half of my fuge set-up, but that is a lot easier to keep clean than the DT ever was.

 

[yogoshio]

So anything under 6" is useless to help with the nitrate? My fuge is currently 6"+ of sand but that is in a 29 gallon tank supporting a 125 with a 2-3" sand bed.

Yeah, pretty much. It does technically pull stuff out of the water column, but if its not cleaned thoroughly by a bunch of sifters its just a detritus sink.

 

[SMACKERS4]

What would be an appropriate amount/species of sand sifting, (mostly) reef safe creatures for a 48x18 sand bed under 2" deep? I'm also dealing with this particular dilemma.

 

[LemontReefer]

i have only a few sifters in a 7 foot tank with dsb.. 4 wp 40s and a huge skimmer draining into the display keeps the sandbed from becoming a sink as the detrius ends up in the sump (removed with water changes )or skimmer not in the sandbed... i can stir it anytime and nothing ill happens. BB or dsb both work, you just gotta stick with one method and do it right. I have run bb acro tanks over the years, its a little less maintaince.., but I like the gobies, wrasses, hence the sandbed to me is fairly important.