Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I have a 72 gal. bow front, in it, i have about an inch & a half deep sand bed. do i need more, can i add more without killing the fish/inverts/corals?

thanks,
russ

Sure.. Everything should be safe if you add sand.. unless you burry them! Just make sure that you rinse the sand thoroughly and get as much of the silt out as possible and add it slowly.

Check out this post about adding sand without making the water cloudy...

http://www.mbrk.com/viewtopic.php?t=2801

satchmofish wrote:I have a 72 gal. bow front, in it, i have about an inch & a half deep sand bed. do i need more, can i add more without killing the fish/inverts/corals?

thanks,
russ

at an inch and a half I wouldn't call it a Deep Sand Bed (DSB). If you are looking for the benefits of a dsb then you need more sand, about 4 inches.

If you do decide to add more sand, do not add more than 1/2-3/4 inch or so at a time. Adding more can choke out many of the animals. Also, dont worry about mixing the new and old sand together, just add it right on top.

I've never rinsed my sand before and it didn't hurt anything. But when I add sand I only use live sand. It may cost more but IMO it's better. I got tons of copepods and other beneficial creatures from the live sand.

Not rinsing doesnt usually hurt anything, but it makes your tank look like a mud slide for a few days.

i dont think it was meant to read as a 1 1/2 DSB but a 1 1/2 deep, sand bed....

mykpoz wrote:i dont think it was meant to read as a 1 1/2 DSB but a 1 1/2 deep, sand bed....

I read it both ways actually, but there is no reason to add more sand if it isn't going to be a deep sand bed(DSB).

Fishfood wrote:

mykpoz wrote:i dont think it was meant to read as a 1 1/2 DSB but a 1 1/2 deep, sand bed....

I read it both ways actually, but there is no reason to add more sand if it isn't going to be a deep sand bed(DSB).

I agree

thank you all so much, is there any truth to this: playsand is ok for reef tanks?

You can use it. Be careful and rinse it good. It is silicate, basically glass, and will scratch your tank. It looks brown under aquarium lights too. I didn't like it and changed it out after a few weeks.