Sand or No sand?

Slimjim39027

Slimjim39027

New member
I have heard from people on both sides of the fence... Do I use sand or do i not use sand in a new reef tank? I would like to hear your thoughts! Thanks!
 
I'm a noob so i don't know really why you would choose one or the other...what are you thinking about stocking? That may make a difference. I want a jawfish so I need a sand bed in my tank.
 
For my 29g biocube, I'm thinking of stocking a couple of clowns for sure, possibly a couple gobies/blennies, a peppermint shrimp, and everything else based off of what type of bed I go with. Obviously corals aren't necessarily effected by the lack of sand, but some livestock can be, so it is all still up in the air on that front excluding the clowns of course.
 
In my opinion, bare bottoms look dirty on the bottom as stuff collects and it is difficult to vacuum all of it. so it's a never ending battle.
 
I have had both and I will stick to sand even if its a shallow bed. Cleaning the dirty bottom became a pain
 
I did both. My last tank I decided to put sand in it, looked really good.......for a while. Shallow sand bed requires regular cleaning, otherwise it becomes nutrient sink. Took all sand out after two months , could not be happier. With proper flow, bottom doesn't get dirty at all, all detritus goes into overflow and gets caught by filter sock. As far as livestock needing sand, I have two Halichoeres wrasses and two gobies. I don't see them acting stressed at all ,they are swimming and acting naturally. For sleep they dive under rock. Best thing about BB tank, no more sand storms :)
 
Thanks for all of the help! I think that I might just go with a sand bed then with a diamond goby... Seems like the best bet
 
MMreef said:
I did both. My last tank I decided to put sand in it, looked really good.......for a while. Shallow sand bed requires regular cleaning, otherwise it becomes nutrient sink. Took all sand out after two months , could not be happier. With proper flow, bottom doesn't get dirty at all, all detritus goes into overflow and gets caught by filter sock. As far as livestock needing sand, I have two Halichoeres wrasses and two gobies. I don't see them acting stressed at all ,they are swimming and acting naturally. For sleep they dive under rock. Best thing about BB tank, no more sand storms :)
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So the elos is bare bottom now? Did you paint the bottom of the tank now? I am picking up an Elos 160 next Sat and it has the earthquake panels on the bottom also, trying to figure out how well will it look bare bottom
 
Yes, it is BB, I did not paint or put anything on the bottom. I am letting coraline take over. It takes some time , but it doesn't bother me. I have two tunze 6105 mounted on the sides of tank as well as two WP-25 blowing across the bottom, no chance detritus will settle there. Congratulations on getting the Elos, this is a really work of art aquarium, you will be happy. If you can't stand the look of plain glass with BB tank, I recommend getting piece of starboard cut to size and putting this on the bottom. Makes sure to start build thread , I want to see what you will do with it. :)
 
I did them all and it seems having 2-3" of sand has always given me great results. Did the BB but didn't like the blah look it was given me.. Yeah, tank was very clean cause the amount of flow I had. No type of algae to worry about on sand. Could feed allot!! Just go with what you like!!! Experimenting down the road is always fun..lol!!
 
MMreef said:
Yes, it is BB, I did not paint or put anything on the bottom. I am letting coraline take over. It takes some time , but it doesn't bother me. I have two tunze 6105 mounted on the sides of tank as well as two WP-25 blowing across the bottom, no chance detritus will settle there. Congratulations on getting the Elos, this is a really work of art aquarium, you will be happy. If you can't stand the look of plain glass with BB tank, I recommend getting piece of starboard cut to size and putting this on the bottom. Makes sure to start build thread , I want to see what you will do with it. :)
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I will start a thread for sure!
 
Good call Craig. I've got a ~4 inch sandbed and a diamond goby in my 30g. They definitely keep the sand rolling, which is good, but you may not be able to get away with coral on that bottom level because of all the digging and sand-throwing it will do (and I wouldn't go too fine on the sand for the same reason). Mine is a great fit though, as I have all my corals sitting off the ground so it and the many other invertebrates I have stocked can have their own race track on the bottom. Check out a conch too, those are great for sandy bottoms!
 
Gunner said:
Good call Craig. I've got a ~4 inch sandbed and a diamond goby in my 30g. They definitely keep the sand rolling, which is good, but you may not be able to get away with coral on that bottom level because of all the digging and sand-throwing it will do (and I wouldn't go too fine on the sand for the same reason). Mine is a great fit though, as I have all my corals sitting off the ground so it and the many other invertebrates I have stocked can have their own race track on the bottom. Check out a conch too, those are great for sandy bottoms!
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Perfect! Obviously I have to plant the rocks in an empty tank before adding the sand to prevent any avalanches, but is there anything else that I should do to help my cleanup crew thrive? And also would a clam be disturbed in a sand bed with a diamond goby? thanks
 
Craig,

I've got a few suggestions but I'd encourage our senior members or moderators to correct/expand on this as I'm not an expert. If this tank is new you should make sure to wait until it has cycled and the algae to cleanup crew ratio is appropriate or you will starve off your pack. Additionally, not all invertebrates are algae eaters so make sure you ask about each species if you are not stocking fish and adding food yet or they could starve off as well. I would also consider what you would like your cleanup crew to look like after the initial algae bloom has passed and purple coralline starts to out-compete green algae. Turbo snails, for instance, are excellent at the beginning with green algae and tend to not be as necessary and knock everything that isn't nailed down over once the tank is aged (like all the coral frags you're about to drop your wallet on). I personally wouldn't do more than a few of those despite how useful they are in the beginning. I am on the fence about the clams Craig, I think someone else should answer that question. They might throw some sand on them or try to dig a burrow under them but I'm unsure how the clams would deal with that or any number of other factors I am unaware of. Hope this helps a little.

Jordan
 
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