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Should I use substrate


JORG
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I was told today by a pet store owner not to use sand in my reef tank I kinda like the sand bottom (I'm not sure what kind it is it came with the tank when I got it off Ruby ) So I'm wondering if I should take the sand out even thou everything is going good in the tank right now ?

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You were at Golds huh? How deep is the sandbed? Much easier to clean a bare bottom tank and you dont have the nitrate issues associated with a deep sandbed (2" or deeper). Personally I hate the way a bare bottom tank looks so I went with just enough sand to cover the bottom. I also picked up a bunch of nassarius snails to keep what sand I have "stirred".

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I put a tiger tail sea cucumber into my tank Friday night and he disappeared into the sand. You can see where he is, seems to be keeping it stirred up nicely. Nassarius work good too. I've got a strawberry conch in there to stir it too. Sand stays nice and white with no nitrates. Not much of a bioload in that tank yet either. I originally set this tank up as bare bottom but neither of us liked the look of it. Had to add sand, been happy with it so far, but the tank is only a couple months old.

HTH

Brad

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I think much of it can be personal preference. I prefer a BB as it is way easier to keep it spotless and I would never have to worry about a nitrate spike from moving my tank/stirring things up; however I can't have a BB as I have a mandarin and a pipefish and I think the sandbed is good for keeping the critters that keep those two fed, so I have a small sandbed for critters. Gobies and a conch keep it very well stirred up. Really it looks better aesthetically and also has the added benefit of reflecting the light (if it is a white/light sand)

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Ok is he telling you not to reuse the sand you got from Ruby? cause I would agree with that buy new sand for a new tank when can use a bit (about a 1/4) of old sand to "seed" new sand.

It is all based on personal preference I have sand bottom and bare bottom and I like the substrate bottom way better a bare bottom tank look like there is something missing

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