sand / no sand

Magikarp · March 14, 2018

Hello .

what are the cons and pros of sand and no sand aquarium

danialakmal97 · March 14, 2018

cons: detritus build up, troublesome during maintenance/decomm, cloud the tank if its disturbed

pros: home for bacteria to colonise, natural looking, rockscape able to rest on the sand without scratchin tank glass, a place to retreat for certain fishes like wrasse

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soggycookies · March 14, 2018

Here’s my list of considerations, from most to least area of concern for both pros and cons:

PROS:

- a more natural aquascape

- large surface area for beneficial bacteria to populate and filter your tank

- substrate for fish that require it(sand-sifting gobies and wrasses in particular)

- deep sandbeds(4inches+)can provide Low oxygen zone for certain strains of bacteria that help with the denitrification process converting nitrates into nitrites

CONS

- finer/smaller grain particles can be easily blown around and cloud the water, hampering light penetration and land all over coral, especially in high flow, shallower setups

- larger size grain aren’t blown around as easily but makes it harder for many sand-swelling species to effectively graze/ dig into and they may injure themselves and get bacterial infections

- larger grain sand cannot exactly be sifted and cleaned by sand-sifting gobies and therefore require constant replenishing by a very effective snail and Hermit cleanup crew or manual vacuuming

- potential nutrient sink if maintenance is not kept up

- deeper sandbeds can release harmful stored chemicals from detritus and waste buildup into your tank if accidentally stirred

I know the cons seem to outweight the pros but IMO it’s all about what you’re trying to achieve. Many people who are into SPS go without sand because it’s the most hassle free; you get less nitrates from less waste nutrients potentially getting stuck in the sand, less likely that water gets cloudy which might affect light dispersion, etc.

But others prefer a natural look and IMO that is the main draw of a sandbed. To replicate the most natural looking ecosystem in the comfort of our home.

Depends what you’re going for, really e.g. if you wanna keep livestock like wrasses, sandstars and sand-sifting gobies , you’re gonna need a smaller grain size or they’re not gonna thrive.

There’s a trade off for everything too, like if you’re using a deep sand bed you’re probably not gonna have to get as much media but you’ll also need to bear with seeing the unsightly dirty bottom-most layer of the sandbed being all kinds of mucky and avoid stirring the sand. With the right cleanup crew and livestock though, you virtually never have to clean the sandbed.

Also like@danialakmal97 said, there’s always the possibility of scratching your tank’s glass while cleaning the walls of your tank with a magnet cleaner or scraper if the particles get wedged in between the cleaning groves, especially with finer grain sand

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Komerider · March 16, 2018

Im a firm believer of fine sand dsb and it's ability to denitrify below 3 inches in the no o2 zone. My worry was an ugly 4 to 5 inch sand bed so I made the tank a panel to hide the bottom 5 inches. Pic of my tank here 3yo gng strong with below 1point of no3 with the help of some reef octopus biospheres. I believe it's a haven of pod young as well after seeding the sand with tigger and another variety from Pacific reed. 3 feet tank able to sustain 2 small mandarins.

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