Sand in refugium

[Envy07]

Is it okay not to have a sandbed in the refugium? Or will this result in me losing a benefit. I keep hearing mixed opinions on DSB and if I were to not have one there'd be no point of having a sandbed in the fug. As a result I'd have more room for macroalgae to grow.

[Sk8r]

If you have a little fuge, go with just the macro, maybe some live rock rubble.

[Envy07]

Serious? Well my refug is 5"L x 10"W x 10"H. Are you sure I'd be alright with no sand in the fug because this will save me money for other stuff :) Don't things like worms need sand?

[bertoni]

I don't bother with sand in my refugium. It might have some benefits, hard to say, but the macroalgae, if present, will do most of the filtration, even with sand, in my opinion.

[Envy07]

So cheato is all i need in that space and maybe some LR rubble?Also if I were to get sand is it a bad idea to get it from someone that has an established tank, just say about 15lbs of the sand. I see a lot of people buying new when there is obviously sellers out there willing to give it to alot for cheap

[bertoni]

The LR rubble is great for growing various small animals. It's optional, but useful. I'd be cautious about buying sand. It might have undesireable hitchhikers. Other than that, sand likely won't cause any problems.

[Envy07]

sand is often referred to being a denitifier(srry spelling) however how much of an impact would the DSB have. Am I better off having a 1/2" sandbed in the DT because that is pretty much what I have right now (15lbs of agramax on a surface of 30 x 12). What about the critters, don't some need to sand to survive.

[usmc121581]

I have a 8" sand bed in my refug. But I havent noticed any real impact.

[Envy07]

I guess I'll get my refugium started by just adding the cheato. Thanks for the advice...saves me 20$ for 15lbs of sand

[jimbo78]

i am running a fuge that is not that much bigger than yours. i started it with just cheato and LR i added about 5" of sand today(i broke down a 10g tank i had and used the sand from it) i'll let you know if i see any effects with nitrates but that will be a while since i just added it today.

[jefnalyssa]

Let us know jimbo

[SimilanRocks]

Wouldn't 5" or 8" be too deep? I had 4" and the sand below 3" created sulfer.

[Acillaton]

IMO, 4" is just perfect. For cheato you dont need to have a sand in the fuge.

[o0jmadr0x0o]

i was pondering the same question when i set up my fuge, i went with no sand and i am very happy with my choice, it makes it eaiser to get any deitrus that gets into the fuge out of there.

[Kryptikhan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11379552#post11379552 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
I don't bother with sand in my refugium. It might have some benefits, hard to say, but the macroalgae, if present, will do most of the filtration, even with sand, in my opinion.

I go pure macro as well. Was given pretty good advice when I first set up my tank to put an additional plastic container in the fuge area by (Aquareeferman) if I was going DSB in case anything went wrong, I could just pick it up and remove the sand. I since went bare macro, with some rubble in a plastic container I hunted for at a few stores to fit my fuge space to the -t-. It's another generic baffle as well to reduce bubbles.