Sand Bed Questions

[cj10488]

I currently have a 29gal that has been setup and cyclling for about 2-3 weeks now. When this tank was setup I placed a 20lb bag on Nature's Ocean Premium Aragonite Reef Sand. I have approx 1-2" deep sand bed. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to place another bag of that aragonite sand in the bottom to make the total depth about 3-4" or is there something better that I could use. Its going to be a FOWLR tank In which i currently have approx 11lbs of LR... I am using a Magnum 350 canister filter as my only filter. I was thinking maybe using a 20lb bag of LS but my LFS advised against it as they stated it was a waste of money in which they chose not to sell it... Looks are important and i like the look of the current stuff in the tank. I am just tring to get input before I purchase as i know with FW it really doesnt matter and you usually want about 1lb per gal in FW tanks... Is the same true for SW??? When adding more substrate is that going to either speed up or slow down the tank cycling?

James

PS... Thanks in Advance for all your input.. I must say that this Forum has been extremely helpful to ppl like me who are really not all that familliar. I have been reading all your recomeded book as the library cant keep them coming fast enough. Thanks again for making the hobby more enjoyable to all.

 

[reefrunner69]

If your wanting to go with a DSB, then yes you could certainly add more sand (I wouldn't add the bioactive sand in a bag, it is hardly worthy of the name live sand). I would add another bag of dry sand, and get a cup or two of live sand from a fellow reefer with a live sand bed to seed it.

When adding more substrate is that going to either speed up or slow down the tank cycling?

If you seed with some LS, it should boost the cycle a little, but not much.