Question on sand and crushed coral

[basssnake]

I put about 70lbs of crushed coral in the bottom of my 100 gallon rubbermaid plastic stock tank(using as a sump). I am wanting to do a deep sandbed. I should have thought about it before putting it in. I am wanting to do a DEEP SANDBED for nitrate reduction. I just got about 180 lbs of sugar sized aragonite sand(caribsea) that i am going to put in. I may only use 150 lbs if that will bring me to about a 6 inch sandbed. Will this sand likely fill in with the crushed coral and make a dense bottom, or should i attempt to mix it? Or should i try to move the crushed coral to one end and then back over the sand after putting in?

So, mix it.........or let it settle.........or move the crushed coral around in big batches as i put the sand in? Oh, by the way the sump is full of water.......please advise, i am working on this right now......

[ckusnierek]

I would remove the CC. It may not let the DSB function properly

[zambavi]

I don't know if this helps but I would just stick to the crushed coral. I personally don't care for the sugar sized sands because they get to compact and almost mud like after about a year. I think it's part of what gives the DSB a bad name sometimes. I know... no help.

[zambavi]

Well that just goes to show how methods to success can differ...

[curthendrix]

You should actually used a combination of particale sizes with sugar sized being the predominant substrate. Sugar size sand allows for more surface area for the bacteria. Those sandbeds that solidify do so because they either aren't set up properly or are neglected. Buy a refug startup kit and recharge your DSB every year or so. Keeping the sand sifted and moving is vital.

Do a search for an article by Schimlek (sp?) on setting up a dsb. He breaks down the proper particle size by %s of your total sandbed.

[basssnake]

Well, i will have double the amount of the sugar sized substrate vs the larger crushed coral. So, now, i don't know what to do. It would be a pain to remove all the crushed coral at this point and be a big mess. surely, it would be like the mixed sands you can get that have mostly small particle with some large particles right?

[basssnake]

anymore input?

[tsr770]

I would guess that over time the larger cc pieces will migrate up to the top of the sugar sized sand if there is any flow at all in there. Will it hurt? probably not

[basssnake]

anyone else with any input???

[Hodori]

CC OUT!

[basssnake]

Well, i already put the sand into the sump over the crushed coral. I hope that it mixes well, or at least, doesn't impede the growth of the bacteria that consumes nitrates. I assume, that you don't have to seed a sandbed with the no oxygen bacteria that consumes nitrates right? Or does it develop on its own?

[LobsterOfJustice]

I would have taken the CC out. Have you cleaned it recently? There is probably a ton of crap in there. If you are having a nitrate problem, I would actually guess that's your problem.

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13385951#post13385951 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffncindy
I don't know if this helps but I would just stick to the crushed coral. I personally don't care for the sugar sized sands because they get to compact and almost mud like after about a year. I think it's part of what gives the DSB a bad name sometimes. I know... no help.


I would never use CC alone anymore. It WILL cause old tank syndrome and wreak havoc on your tank.

I have seen exactly what happens after a reef tank is set up after 3 years of using CC. Detritus settles in all of the spaces and will make you pull your hair out dealing with the consequences....

[IslandCrow]

The oxygen deprived bacteria that grow in a DSB are the same bacteria that are in the rest of the tank. If the CC wasn't seeded, though, you'll want to seed your DSB with something. Mixing in some sand from your display tank or adding a rock from your display tank should work just fine for that.

[basssnake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13401755#post13401755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
I would have taken the CC out. Have you cleaned it recently? There is probably a ton of crap in there. If you are having a nitrate problem, I would actually guess that's your problem.


Acutally this is a new system. I would say there is about 1 to 2 inches of crushed coral at most in the sump. I put at least 3 maybe 4 inches of sugar sized aragamax sand on top of it. It was 70 lbs of crushed coral under 150 lbs of aragamax sand(sugar sized). Still a problem??

So, to seed this properly for a Deep Sand Bed, I just need to stick a few cups of live sand from one of my tanks on top? I put some in the main tank, but not the sump yet. I am also going to be putting some live rock in the sump, probably at least 100lbs of it. But, i also could put a few cups of sand. So, i guess you don't have to buy some special bacteria(the kind that lives in the oxygen free environment that consumes nitrates) for the bottom of the deep sand bed and inject it there to get it started? Might be a dumb question, but i guess never hurts to ask. detail me

[IslandCrow]

No, you don't need any special type of bacteria. The oxygen rich and anoxic bacteria are exactly the same. The difference is that if you deprive the bacteria of oxygen, they are forced to use Nitrates instead, thus convering Nitrate to Nitrogen gas. Someone smarter in chemistry could explain the exact process, but that's the general idea. If you're putting live rock in your sump, that will seed the sand that's in there. Adding some live sand as well certainly won't hurt, though.

[ludnix]

With a system that new you're not going to have any problems with detritus in the crushed coral. It sounds like you're going be fine.

[tkeracer619]

FWIW sand probably has that much crush coral in it already. Just make sure you mix it up well and add critters once it gets going.