Sand bed

[CleanerShrimp]

Does the sand bed lie right on the tank bottom or are there any other things to place on the tank bottom before adding sand?

Thanks!

[kelstorm]

stack your live Rocks first b4 the sand..

[CleanerShrimp]

Okie! thanks!

[kelstorm]

the thickness of the sandbed is then up to u.. []

[Cedric]

Hi,

there are two schools of thought here which I would like to share. Some people prefer to place the LR first before putting in the sand as this prevents the LR from shifting or falling. Some prefers to put the sand first as it helps to cushion direct loading from the rocks and help prevents the LR from cracking the bottom of the tank.

You can put varying thickness of sand with different grades. Plenum is the alternative where you have 4~5" of sand over 1" of water on the bottom of your tank. Its suppose to help NNR.

Hope this helps.

[Marine]

how to place 1' of water below 4 to 5' of sand ? use gravel filter to do that ?

[CleanerShrimp]

Ic, thanks for the valuable info.

[Cedric]

Hi, to have 1" of water below the sand bed, I believe most people makes use of a fine mesh screen over light diffusers which is then place over pvc pipes cut to 1" before placing the sand on top.

Hope this helps.

[kelstorm]

Hi, to have 1" of water below the sand bed, I believe most people makes use of a fine mesh screen over light diffusers which is then place over pvc pipes cut to 1" before placing the sand on top.
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Cedric.. may i know what is the purpose of that?? to illumiate the bottom?? or to heat up the gravel??[:] the last time i recall reading this method is like putting heating coils underneath the tank to stimulate the plants and that is like for FW.. kindly enlighten me on that method u mention coz i never heard of it b4..[]

[Cedric]

Hi,

the use of plenum if setup correctly is to promote a zone where oxygen is between 0.5 to 2.0mg/l, or what should be called the anoxic zone. Bacteria here will reduce nitrate back to gaseous elemental forms and this is termed dissimilatory denitrification. These bacteria are 30 times more efficient than those found in oxygen free zones, which results in extremely efficient use of phosphorous and therefore far less production of phosphate.

Hope this will help you understand better.