Some Deep Sand Bed questions

[Anonymous]

The more I read of Ron Shimeks ideas on the DSB, the more I realize I am lacking. My goal is to have five inches or so of a sand bed with plenty of infauna.

I already see that I should use sand from 2.0 mm to 0.063 mm with 60% being between 0.5 and 0.062. When I get all of my sand I am not sure if I should layer it or should I mix it all together?

Does anyone have any suggestions on adding sand to an existing aquarium? My idea is to turn off the pumps and use a funnel to try to deliver the new sand to the bottom of the tank, letting it settle a while before restarting the pumps. Should I stir the old sand in with the new or just put it on top? Should I add small amounts of sand at a time or put it all in at the same time?

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Check out my site at www.hobbyschool.com/reef
Instructions for beginners, book recommendations and a few pictures.

 

[Anonymous]

Deep sand beds are quite the fashion this week, but I'd point out that if the goal is primarily to reduce nitrates to undetectable levels, they are not mandatory. Larry Jackson has run a tank for years with a 2" sand bed and has not had any significant nitrates in it.

Consequently, there may be particular reasons for using beds deeper than 2", but they are more subtle than wanting to use the sand for nitrification.

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Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, this is the process that I have used to remove / add material to the bottom of my tank. ( I also want to thank exodus for part of the idea )
The day before I want to add anything, if I am doing a change, I removed an equal portion. In this case I was adding a total of 25 lbs sand but wanted to removed some crushed coral also.
So, starting several days before, I removed aprox 2 cups of material nightly until I had the total amount removed that I wanted. (I like to recycle, so the crushed coral went into another tank for later use) This of course stirred up a LOT of material and my skimmer was having a field day, not to mention a dirty tank for a while after each removal. On the day I wanted to start adding the sand, I filled up a LARGE ziplock bag and sent it to the bottom of the tank. I then opened it up just a little began to slowly pour the sand around the tank, taking a bit of time to stir it just a little into the crushed coral that remained. It took me several days of adding one bag at a time to get the sand fully into the tank, as well as mixed in with the crushed coral. Thankfully it appears that all of my sand life survived the new bottom. I also was able to harvest quite a lot of life out of the coral that was removed.

I turn off all of my pumps, with the exception of my smallest PH that is pointed towards the surface, during this process. I then turn the pumps back on to help the sand settle into spots that I may have missed.

If you are planning on adding two or three different grades of dead sand, I would mix it all together first and then begin the process of adding it to your tank. The last thing I added was another 5lbs of live sand from a new source to help with life diversity.

HTH
G

 

[Anonymous]

I just added a little more sand to my 75. I do this regularly due to the amount I have vs want. I rainse it well. VERY well. The fill the end of a gravle cleaner with it and run water through that. Finaly I use the tube in a fashion similar to your funal idea to place the sand. With all this I still get some clouding. It seems inevitable.

 

[Anonymous]

Scrooge,

After researching the Deep Sand Bed question for about 6 months, which included review of printed articles and E-mail correspondence with Dr. Ron, I arrivied at the following recipe for the “dead” portion of a live sand bed:

60% ESV “Fine Grade Oolitic” (<0.5mm) Product #140 (50lb Bucket) ESV ships direct.
30% CaribSea Oolitic Select, product #932 (~0.5mm) (30 lb Bag)(This was formerly called “Sugar Size Select”
10% CaribSea “Sea Flor Special Grade Reef Sand” (~2.0mm)Product #50 (44lb Bag)

The intended purpose of this mix is to provide a substrate that is most conducive to the types and population densities of fauna that constitute an “optimum” nutrient/detritus processing sand bed.

The ESV “fine grade oolitic” has particle sizes that predominate from 0.5 mm down to silt/dust size grains.

The CaribSea “Argomax Oolitic Select” is graded to average around 0.5 mm size grains.

The CaribSea “Sea Flor Special Grade Reef Sand” is graded to average around 2 mm size grains.

An alternate mix uses 90% SouthDown Tropical Play Sand For The Caribbean” (As available from certain East Coast Home Depot stores) and 10% CaribSea “Sea Flor Special Grade Reef Sand”.

As I was trying to duplicate the “recommended mix” as closely as possible, I went with the 60/30/10 mixture.

Also the HD sand is not sold at most HD’s and arraigning store transfers is problematic.

Another possibility would be to substitute CaribSea Argomax Oolitic (The non-select version) for the EVS component of the 60/30/10 mix, although this would skew the particle size towards a larger average grain size. (Which I was trying to avoid.)

I use the above mixes to a depth of 6”

The ESV is only $20 for a 50lb bucket, ordered direct from ESV, but shipping can add a significant amount to the price. I had 500 lbs. of it shipped to Denver about 3 months ago.

The CaribSea products I obtained at a LFS. (Debron)

I seed this bed with about 10 lbs. each of live sand from say three sources, and detrivore kits from IndoPacific Sea Farms and Island Aquatics. This goes on top of the dead sand, so as not to smother the fauna in the live sand.

Regards,

Scott D Passe

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The definition of an expert is a washed-up drip under pressure.

 

[Anonymous]

You might want to use PVC instead of a funnel. Also, if you want your sand to be fairly clean and "live" you can put dead sand in a tank or large bucket with a powerhead and heater (if necessary) and seed with some live sand. Let sit for a few weeks. Perform some water changes, especially if the water remains cloudy. Eventually, you will have all live sand and the sand will be well rinsed after being under water for a few weeks. Scoop up and pour down a long piece of PVC. You shouldn't get too much cloudiness and the sand you will be adding should be "live" with both fauna and bacteria.

 

[Anonymous]

Just to add rinsing the heck out of the sand isnt recommened, in fact some dont rinse at all. The fine sediments you rinse out are very important to a sand bed, and the life in it. I dont believe Dr. Ron rinses. Try to get some sand from as many reefers that you locally know this will add a great amout of life. Also try to use scotts reciepe it works the best, this means taking out all of the crushed coral.

 

[Anonymous]

I just bought a bag of Southdown TPS and compared it to Natures Own Florida crushed coral. The TPS has more fines than the Natures Own but is generally the same mix, but from what I've read hear I won't be doing any rinsing. At $4 a bag for TPS, its like finding money in the street!