[wally43]

i'm still trying to figure out if i wanna go barebottom or have sand in my tank, i'm planning on putting two Koralia 2 powerheads in there my tank is 65g 48"x18"x17" tall i have a light its a coralife pc 260 watt 2 10ks and 2 actinics i have a pro series 100g wet/dry with built in skimmer i have heaters i'm still looking at getting an RO unit. i dont plan on having any sps just softies maybe some mushrooms and what not so do i really need sand, i've been looking at my sump and thinking that i might be able to put some sand in there, and i've been looking at pix of both BB tanks and DSB tanks if i went sand tho i wouldn't really want a DSB maybe just an inch or two prolly just one inch tho cuz i have it as freshwater right now with sand and i dont like sand really that much only the black sand if i did have it. so i'm just really looking for some input on this. thanks
wally

 

[John]

It's all a matter of opinion.
Me, I like sand. It looks nice, and it looks bad at times.

 

[wally43]

i know its mostly what i perfer but right now i have 40lbs of silica sand in there but i'm going to take that out and rinse it out so do u think 40lbs of black marine sand will do good?
wally

 

[John]

It should do fine, however some people have commented that the black sand looks dirty easily... since LR is white, if it cracks or crumbles you would have white specks on the surface... but is that really a major problem, and couldn't the same be said for a white sandbed?

it all goes back to preference. Plus this may cause your tank to cycle again, possibly killing some livestock.

 

[wally43]

i'm just starting its freshwater right now i'm converting to saltwater when i move within the next month i just like to be prepared i almost have everything i need except an RO unit then its just sand LR, and i think lil crumbles of LR in the sand would look cool. k i think i've made up my mind thanks man
wally

 

[Guest]

I think you should have a well established sump/fuge with DSB, & a lot of rock...You SB does a few things...a place for the bacteria to live & some help buffer your tank.... also if you are gonna remove the SB you might not want any thing in there. You will have some bad ammonia spikes.