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bighead
01/13/2007, 03:39 PM
I am thinking of removing my xrushed coral and adding a DSB can I just scoop out my crushed coral and dump in sand or do I need to do a bit at a time and what kind of sand do tou sugest line sand or like HD sand this tank is cycled and established and stocked

bertoni
01/13/2007, 03:54 PM
Is this for the 75g tank?

You can probably scoop out the crushed coral, although I have always taken tanks down to replace the substrate. How long has the tank been running and how deep is the crushed coral? How many inches of sand do you want to add?

bighead
01/14/2007, 08:18 AM
the tank has been set up for about 5 months but everything came out of a tank that was set up for aroun 3 years used same water substate and rock the crushed coral is about 3 inches ans I was thinking the same for the dsb 3 inches

bertoni
01/14/2007, 03:00 PM
I'd remove the crushed coral and replace it with an inch or so of sand for looks. 3" isn't enough for a DSB, in my opinion.

SuperNerd
01/14/2007, 03:03 PM
Yeah, 4 inches is I think the minimum for a DSB. :)

bighead
01/14/2007, 04:10 PM
well I guess I will get a 5in sandbed instead I was thinking about getting 150 lbs of hd sand an around 50 lbs of some live sand like fiji sand I guess does that sound about right

SuperNerd
01/14/2007, 04:15 PM
HD silica sand?

The finer the sand the better for DSBs.

I would just go for regular aragonite oolitic dry sand instead of the live. It will technically become "live" in less than a day if there is already established LR and mature tank water.

Check out the DSB calculator here on RC for exactly how much you'll need.

TriggerHappyDude
01/14/2007, 07:39 PM
Forgive me guys, I'm new, whats DSB stand for?

bighead
01/15/2007, 01:52 AM
shoul I use all aragonite oolitic or just some like 50 pounds and the rest hd sand

SuperNerd
01/15/2007, 02:39 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8982196#post8982196 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChrisMc73
Forgive me guys, I'm new, whats DSB stand for?

Deep Sand Bed. :D

SuperNerd
01/15/2007, 02:41 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8984648#post8984648 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bighead
shoul I use all aragonite oolitic or just some like 50 pounds and the rest hd sand

I would personally go with all aragonite oolitic. Some people use silica based sand from supply stores like HD but I hear it scratches the tank much easier because of the shape of the little crystals. I hear they're sharp. Not something I would want to use if I have animals that sift the sand.

Another reason I would get only oolitic is because if you mix it with something that is larger grain size the larger pieces will move up to the surface of the sand and can prevent the exchange/release of gases at the surface.

rustybucket145
01/15/2007, 08:58 AM
you can use the HD sand for the lower layers of the bed. And you can actually leave a thin (1/2") layer of the Crushed Coral down and add the HD sand on top of it. After you get you HD sand in put the Aragonite sand on the top. This IMO looks better than the HD sand so you will have that nice look on top for much cheaper than going aragonite for the whole thing.

rustybucket145
01/15/2007, 09:02 AM
Oh, you will need about 75lbs of HD sand and prob bout 50lbs of aragonite (dry is much cheaper for the same thing)

Be sure to thouroughly wash the HD sand, it will have twiggs and roots in it.