Newly Thickened Sand Bed

[Derek]

I decided to thicken up my sand bed with some crush aragonite. Before my sand bed was less than half an inch thick. The sand would often get shifted by the current and I would have to reset it. The crushed aragonite is a thicker grain and seems to stay better in the flow. The white also makes the colors of the fish, corals, and rocks pop more.

[AquaJohn]

im not sure if it works the same under water but after time I would say the bigger stuff is gona settle and the smaller stuff will raise to the top. But I guess then you could siphon the smaller stuff out as it works its way up.

[offroadodge]

how did u add it W/O getting it all over the rock work and corals?

[caferacermike]

The way I've seen it done is to use something like a measuring cup or plastic cup. You fill it with a manageable amount of sand, cover it with your hand, then lower it to the bottom of the tank and carefully pour it out by sliding your hand away just a little. Pile it up on one end and then slowly push it around with your hand.

[AquaJohn]

or you could use a piece of PVC with a large funnle on top so the sand all slides down the pipe to the sand bed

[mooric]

or you could use a piece of PVC with a large funnle on top so the sand all slides down the pipe to the sand bed

I'm gonna have to try this. I have been wanting to add some more sand to my bed.

[DaJMasta]

You can also just dump it in and blow it off with a turkey baster. Probably takes longer because you have to go back over everything, but getting sand on corals isn't so bad for them, and so long as it doesn't stay there they should be fine. Maybe it would be worth nudging them beforehand so that when they close they don't take some sand with them.

[doktorstick]

It will settle.  It's physics.  The big stuff will get on top and all the small stuff on bottom.  

[Derek]

im not sure if it works the same under water but after time I would say the bigger stuff is gona settle and the smaller stuff will raise to the top. But I guess then you could siphon the smaller stuff out as it works its way up.

I mixed it a bit so that the smaller sand is mixed in with the larger sand. I didn't want the larger stuff to suffocate the bacteria.

[Derek]

how did u add it W/O getting it all over the rock work and corals?

I used a flex hose and the top of a soda bottle. I used the top of the soda bottle like a funnel and just put a cup or two of sand in it at a time. I did find that it is best to keep the bottom of the hose as close to the bottom as possible. If it is raised any it will all pour out too quickly and cause some sand storms. It only took about two hours for my water to clear. I did not have to do much in terms of cleaning sand off of the rocks and corals afterwards.

[Kkiel02]

I decided to thicken up my sand bed with some crush aragonite. Before my sand bed was less than half an inch thick. The sand would often get shifted by the current and I would have to reset it. The crushed aragonite is a thicker grain and seems to stay better in the flow. The white also makes the colors of the fish, corals, and rocks pop more.

If you did this all in one day be prepared for an ammonia spike. I didn't see how much you put in at once but better to be safe than sorry. I read on reefcentral a cup or two a day was a good number so you wouldn't kill your microfauna, etc. It also depends on how it is spread out I would think.

[offroadodge]

thats cool, im gonna do it that away as well. Let us know if your levels go crazy. I would think that since its not live sand that there wouldnt be any changes. LMK(us)

[barderer]

I have moved toward a thinner bed in my displays. The thick bed is a time bomb.

[Derek]

I'll be testing my levels tonight or tomorrow. I did a water change the day after I made the addition of the sand. Everything still seems fine. I added 40 pounds of sand. After I put the sand in, I used a hair pick and pulled the sand from the bottom up towards the top so that it was well mixed in with the new sand. I am not anticipating any problems. My snails have actually been laying eggs all week. If something was going crazy I figured they would have stopped laying eggs.

[Derek]

I have moved toward a thinner bed in my displays. The thick bed is a time bomb.

The sand isn't super thick. At the thickest part it is 2 inches. I have around 30 nassarius snails that keep the sand bed nice and sifted. I also have a sea cucumber in there as well. I think it'll be fine.