How much sand for a new 65gallon setup

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Feolaf1

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
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I am setting up a new 65 gallon tank and have read what I can about deep and shallow beds.
Most are saying either go with like 1/2" (SSB) or 4"or more (DSB) of sand but according to the manufacturer it says to use a minimum of 1 lb per gallon. That would mean about 20-30 lbs or the deep would be maybe 80-90lbs.
I thought to go with so much sand in a relatively small but tall tank would look a little strange. 36"x18"x24" high and @1/2" would be a lot less than what the manufacturer is saying. So I am not sure what to do.
Any suggestions would be appreciated
 
for s 36x18 foot print
1/2 inch deep = 1.4026 U.S. gallons, 0.1875 cubic feet
1 inch deep = 2.8052 U.S. gallons,0.375 cubic feet
2 inches deep = 5.6104 U.S. gallons,0.75 cubic feet.
3 inches deep 8.4156 U.S. gallons, 1.125 cubic feet.
so when you know what you are going to put down determine its weight per cubic foot of volumes or gallon.

example quartz sand.
weighs 12.84 lbs per gallon
But you dont buy it in gallons right it comes in *Lb bags,
so 50 lb bag would contain 3.89 gallons.
20 Lb would contain 1.6 gallons.

so 2 inches deep of something which Weigh's equal to above would require
5.6(gal) X 13(Lb/gal) 72.8Lb bag,20 +50 lb bags.

Or 18.2 Lbs for every 1/2 inch of Depth. ( 20 lb would be~9/16" deep.)

the trick is to determine what It weighs by volume..ton/yrd, lbs/gal,etc.
Then you can Apply the above Volume examples of Your tank to determine how much to buy.
 
Ok thank you both for the advice!
I was going to use natures ocean white #1 live sand. I was also going to use artificial corals etc but was going to put a good amount of seachem matrix ,fluval bio max or something similar in my canister to boost the bio filter capacity but I may add some rock in the tank as well
 
it's usually a lb per gal , depending on how thick you want your sand I would go 45lbs see if it looks like enough than add more if needed , every tank is different as the foot prints can vary .
 
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