Good substrate for FOWLR

[2gen454]

Hi All,

I haven't posted too much, as you can see, as I've been lurking for while just getting to know the marine arena. It was suggested by my LFS not to go with a DSB in a FOWLR tank because it's hard to keep clean, and a larger grain substrate would be better. I've heard to stay clear of the crushed coral, but wondered what other suggestions you all would have for a nice easily maintained substrate. For a background, I'll have a 125 gal set up with an Eshopps WD-200 wet/dry filter (skimmer to be added later, but not sure what kind as of yet). I plan on aquascaping with mostly base rock, and adding some live rock to seed and cycle the tank. Thanks!

[Jerry W]

I like a shallow sand bed in my tanks. 1-2 inches of aragonite will give you a nice look. DSB's are ok but there is a difference between a dsb and a live dsb. Some tanks simply have 4-6 inches of dead sand, void of the beneficial critters necessary to keep it viable. I used to go with a deepr substrate but for a FOWLR, the sahllow beds work well IMO

[LisaD]

I agree with Jerry W, hard to go wrong with a shallow sand bed of 1-2 inches. I have had problems with my DSB and nuisance algae. (Mine was a live DSB, and the sand was fine, but it seemed to release nutrients into a very lightly stocked tank.)

I wouldn't go with larger grain substrate.