Is my sand bed to deep? pics included

[Frogspawn]

Over the past few weeks i have been setin up a 30g reef aquarium. and been asking lot of questions. now i was wondering if my sand bed was ok. i have read all the pros and cons of a deep sand bed and i think i dont want to risk the deadly gases that can form from it. so i was thinking about just adding 40# of sand. and this is what i got.
also, i have painted my back glass pride blue. thanks to u guys giving me the idea. i think it turned out great. thanks again. here are some new pics.
my LR is still curing and seams like the nitrites wont go down but well give it more time. lighting and wave system is on there way..

 

[Ziggy953]

How deep is it? Looks like it could be 3 or more inches to me.

 

[melosu58]

Looks fine to me. You have more than I have. It is really personal preference. What you really want. I think it looks pretty good. Good Job painting

 

[Frogspawn]

its about 3 1/2 to 4" is that going to cause gases to build up? and if so how can i solve that problem?

 

[melosu58]

I would imagine you`ll be OK. Most DSB`s are 5 to 6 inches. My guess is you`ll be OK. You can view my tank in the sig area to see my sand and how high it is.

 

[MT79]

It looks fine. FWIW If you wanted to use less you could. 2" or so would give you some more room with out any draw backs.

 

[Frogspawn]

well to help out with the cycle time on this tank. witch i hope i wont even get one. i am going to add all my LR thats just about done to this 30 gallon and put about 5-10 pounds of the sand thats in my mature aquarium thats been running for about 1 year now in my refuge , that hangs on the back. i hope that will kickstart the cycle and i will get very little if any ammo. spike. whats your suggestion on doing this?

 

[melosu58]

I would not put all that sand from your old tank in there because you`d be transfering alot of the nasty stuff in the sand causing a big spike in your tank. I would only transfer a small amout like a cup or two only to seed your sand. You`ll get most of your benificial bacteria from and on your LR.