Shallow or No Sandbed

[chull13]

I am setting up my 65 gal and can't decided on a sandbed. I plan on having this tank set up for several years and I do not want to take a chance on the bed causing a crash later on. I don't particularly love the look of no sandbed so I am thinking of going shallow (~1") and getting a diamond goby to keep it clean. Let me hear your opinions.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[kwl1763]

Totally depends on what you want to keep and how much flow you'll have in my opinion. For a mixed reef. i'd do sand. SPS tank with tons of flow I would go no sand.

 

[tnyga]

my next will be no bed..

 

[sdminson]

Well my diamond goby does a wonderfull job almost too good I cant ever get the sand particles in my tank down and have had a cloudy tank for three weeks since Ive had him

 

[FutureInterest]

I keep a shallow sand bed of very fine sand ~1 inch deep at the most. You get plenty of denitrification even as shallow as 1/2" down. I stir up the sand every few weeks or so to flush out the detritus.

I personally don't care for the large sand sifting gobies as they get sand over everything... I've got some interesting hitchhiker snails though that pop up like nassarius snails. Thousands of them emerge from the sand at night and then disappear by morning. They keep my sand looking very clean .

 

[cameron]

A shallow sand bed gives you more options on critters you can keep. Numberous gobies and wrasses use a sandbed for food and protection. Plus I think they just look better.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

DSB is my first choice but out of the two go shallow (and put a deep sand bed in the fuge). One point of note though, I do not know if a diamond goby will fair well in a shallow sand bed. Those things really need the fauna and flora and food that goes with a deep sand bed. You might be able to get away with a jaw fish or something though.

 

[cameron]

You can do a sand sifting goby, but you may have to supplement his diet. I am not a fan of the DSB and would not go that way unless you really know the dangers and are willing to accept them.

 

[sdminson]

Yeah i bought my diamond goby without doing research which Im not going to do it again already spent about 200 dollars in books this month (the wifes going to kill me) and needless to say trying to remove him is almost impossible but on a good note I have got him to eat frozen mysis and even some flake food if I can get it down to him although from what Ive read this isnt the norm

 

[glxtrix]

thought jaw fish need more than 1" in order to create their lil underground cave.... in any event, I'm a BB guy and I'll say just go with BB. If done right the bottom will be covered in coraline after a few months and it'll be sweet. Keep in mind tho if you go BB, its good to have a heafty skimmer to rid those extra nutrients that will build up due to not having a sand bed. Also a decent amount of flow is generally required to get all the crap up and in the water column so it can get to your skimmer. But it all boils down to looks, if you like sand then just add sand, personally if I were going to add sand, I'd do more than 1" but thats me. Let us know what you decide and dont forget to post pics

 

[skriz]

sand bed. looks more natural.

You can have crazy flow even with sand. I wouldnt do a goby, there are other options out there. Unless you use a grainier sand.

 

[chull13]

I had a diamond goby for about 1 1/2 years before he finally jumped out of my tank one night. I had mine eating mysis and brine as well so hopefully if I get another one he will do the same. I think I will go with a shallow sand bed.

 

[tim8111]

sdminson;117257 wrote: Yeah i bought my diamond goby without doing research which Im not going to do it again already spent about 200 dollars in books this month (the wifes going to kill me) and needless to say trying to remove him is almost impossible but on a good note I have got him to eat frozen mysis and even some flake food if I can get it down to him although from what Ive read this isnt the norm

My sand gobies eat sinking pellets. This is the easiest way to get food to the sand bed, in my opinion.

 

[victor626nj]

i say you go with a shallow bed of sand ....on my tak i am going to go with a black sand i just love the look it gives jins tank ....but im probably going with a 180so 100lbs should do it for me

 

[chemically_balanced]

Well I don't think I've mentioned this out here yet but instead of sand or bare bottom I went with Live Rock Rubble when I moved my tank about two months ago.

 

[chull13]

how does it look? got a pic?

 

[slayer]

i have a bunch of agrocrate left,, i could make you a one piece of live rock to cover the entire bottom...it would look a sandbed, ie the top of the rock would be pressed with sand but would not collect debris. i could even drill holes in it to house frag plugs if you like.. been making this stuff all week, getting pretty good at it.

 

[chemically_balanced]

chull13;117393 wrote: how does it look? got a pic?

LIKE DIS

alt="" />

 

[cameron]

slayer77;117409 wrote: i have a bunch of agrocrate left,, i could make you a one piece of live rock to cover the entire bottom...it would look a sandbed, ie the top of the rock would be pressed with sand but would not collect debris. i could even drill holes in it to house frag plugs if you like.. been making this stuff all week, getting pretty good at it.

That is an awesome idea. I may have to consider trying that in my next tank.

 

[chull13]

slayer77;117409 wrote: i have a bunch of agrocrate left,, i could make you a one piece of live rock to cover the entire bottom...it would look a sandbed, ie the top of the rock would be pressed with sand but would not collect debris. i could even drill holes in it to house frag plugs if you like.. been making this stuff all week, getting pretty good at it.

I am not following you here. Can you explain a bit more?