New DSB

[ram6519]

I am setting up and new 55 GAL [acronym:b2afc354d1="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:b2afc354d1] tank. My [acronym:b2afc354d1="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:b2afc354d1] told me if I went with just Sand only then I would have a constant sand storm in my tank but that what I needed was a Sand & Crushed Coral mixture. Is this true? I plan on a 3" [acronym:b2afc354d1="Deep Sand Bed"]DSB[/acronym:b2afc354d1] and I have 2 - 402 Powerheads.

[EL Diablo]

I have a 3 inch [acronym:3eccdb6c9c="Deep Sand Bed"]DSB[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c] in my tank and 3 maxi-jet 1200 [acronym:3eccdb6c9c="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c], Never seen a sand storm in there

[acronym:3eccdb6c9c="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]CC[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c] will end up giving you more cleaning work as it retains debry easily.

A [acronym:3eccdb6c9c="Deep Sand Bed"]DSB[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c] will take care of itself
I originally had [acronym:3eccdb6c9c="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]CC[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c] before I added my [acronym:3eccdb6c9c="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c] and replaced it with [acronym:3eccdb6c9c="Live sand"]LS[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c].
couldnt be happier.

Plus the sand will fall to the bottom and the [acronym:3eccdb6c9c="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]cc[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c] will be on top of the sand. you wont even see it really.

[acronym:3eccdb6c9c="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c] a [acronym:3eccdb6c9c="Deep Sand Bed"]DSB[/acronym:3eccdb6c9c] looks sweet

[dralarms]

I agree, the only time I have a sand storm is when I stir it up. After it's become live then the power head might shift it but it normally won't stay in the water colum.

I also had [acronym:cdbe4e2bbc="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]cc[/acronym:cdbe4e2bbc] and converted to [acronym:cdbe4e2bbc="Live sand"]ls[/acronym:cdbe4e2bbc]. it is so much cleaner and nicer looking.

[quarryshark]

Agree, never had an issue with a sandstorm. One of my maxijet 1200s let loose once, all it did was dig a big hole, no problem.

[ram6519]

OK Guys, I added 60 Lbs of Sand to my tank today. How long will it take to get the white cloud to go away? It has been 6 hrs and I still can not see the powerheads in the tank.

[quarryshark]

Maybe shut the powerheads off for a couple hours, see it that helps.

[fireman26m]

When I first added my [acronym:2d43706e37="Live sand"]LS[/acronym:2d43706e37] I left the [acronym:2d43706e37="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:2d43706e37]'s off and ran a [acronym:2d43706e37="Hang On Back"]HOB[/acronym:2d43706e37] filter just to clear it up quickly. The next morning it was crystal clear. Never had a prob since....unless I caused it.

[loganj]

It may take a day or two for everything to settle down. Cutting the flow in the tank will help a lot. Your sand will be easily stirred up for a while, but once it gets a coating of bacteria, it will stay put much better. Make sure you add plenty of critters to keep the sand bed stirred so you don't develop anaerobic areas.

[ram6519]

This is the way my tank looks after being up and running for about 28 hrs.


* How do you add a picture??? *

[ram6519]

Ok, Lets try this again. Here is my tank after the first 28 hours.