Sandbed Depth

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V

viperbot

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 17, 2009
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Dublin, Ireland
Hey folks,

Whats the ideal depth of a sandbed? Ive read from between 1 and 5 inches but have also been told that bare bottom is the way to go. Tank is 5 foot and 400 litres. My cabinet wont allow for a sump so Ill be using an external canister filter and a protien skimmer. I plan on going full reef soon but for now it will be a FOWLR setup. Cheers,

Jay
 
2-3 i think i use two inches. plus it depends what type of fish/inverts you want
 
I generally use between 2-4inches depending on what I am housing in any particular tank. The depth a sand bed needs to be, is directly related to the animals in which you intend to house (coupled with personal preference as well of course). Additionally, since I didn't see it mentioned here, you need to know that the deeper your sand bed, the more care you'll need to give it - if it's not turned over and aerated regularly (manually or by a plethora of sifting and burying animals), you can quickly have a toxic build up of anaerobic bacterias, which produce hydrogen sulphide which when released into the water column in moderate to high levels can poision other inhabitants, resulting in death. The deeper the bed, the more risk, but by making sure you have a fully stocked and well balanced cleaner crew, and that you "stir" the bed about once a week, you should be alright.
 
water baby is the middle man/woman between me and mr. reef
 
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