k9flash Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Ok, so as I get ready to start putting these tank parts together and get the cycle started I have a quick question. What are the prevailing thoughts on substrates? I know some people are using bare bottoms but I think I'd like to have some sand in there. Just not sure if I should go Shallow or deep. Are people still using Plenums or is that discouraged now. I figure I'd put some egg crate under the sand as I'd like to toss an engineer in there and dont want to risk a live rock crashing through the bottom of the tank. But as far as depth and type of substrate to put on top of it I am kind of lost. Thanks in advance guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisriverfisherman Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 If you make sure to put the live rock in before your sand bed the rock will already be on the bottom of the tank and cant go anywhere. EDIT: I think about a 2" sand bed should work for you that's about all I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wegotjs Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 i have about a inch . I add and subtract new sand about every 6 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I have about 3 inches in my 55 gallon and about 5 inches in my nano. No egg crate and rocks are sitting on the sand. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9flash Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 Cool guys. Thanks for the responses. That helps a lot. Think I'll go with the shallow bed then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I personally like a 2" sand bed but that is mainly because I don't like to deal with the whole deep sand bed thing in a display tank. They are great when they are left alone but if they get stired up they can release some sting. There are definatley benefits to both a plenum and a deep sand but but now days I think most people are sticking with a good amount of live rock, either a shallow sandbed or bb, decent skimming, and regular water changes. It seems to be the best way to maintain a low level of nutrients while still keeping a real natural look. I do like the idea, and have implemented remote deep sand beds and refugia. I think doing this not only gives you another area of anaerobic denitrification but also a great area for some pretty cool critters. I like to use my refugiums for horses, pipes, interesting inverts, and lots of macro algae So many great options are out there now days and one can be successful with many variations. My ideal system is: -Show tank with 2-3" sand bed (I like Carib-sea Seaflor Special for my sand as it is big enough to not get blown around but small enough to stay pretty white and free of detritus build up) -Sump with decently overpowered skimmer and a fair amount of water volume capability -Remote sandbed(cryptic/no light and decent flow) with refugium compartment or seperate remote refugium(24 hour or reverse photo period) with decent volume -Remote shallow propagation tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Or you could do something like I did to keep the rocks from falling. I used scrap acrylic pieces and some acrylic rod to make "rock stands" for the rocks to sit on before I put in the sand. Hopefully you can see it in this picture and understand what I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9flash Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 wow, that is definitely a creative idea. My skills at rock stacking are really lacking. I figure I am going to need to brace and support them somehow. Do you glue/epoxy your rock together when you stack them as well or just let the base take care of the majority of the support? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 On mine the rock just sits on the "stands" and then the rock sits on each other without glues, epoxy, or ties. But all my rocks are large in size. If I had smaller pieces I would look into it more and use whatever I felt was needed. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Remind me of this tomorrow and I'll show how I did mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I did something like Michael but i used one of these. I like a 2-3" sandbed as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 I did something like Michael but i used one of these. I like a 2-3" sandbed as well This was a great idea Miles. I wish I had thought of his before setting my rock work. It provides perfect gap and grip between rock and bottom of the tank to maintain flow ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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