EZ one 4 the experts

55g reef

After being away from f/o marine tanks for quite a while, I inserted a u/g filter, which was provided with the tank, when I began to cycle my new tank. It has been cycling with approx 5-6 lbs of lr and 2 damsels and doing fine. I want to remove the filter......

My question is, should/can I just cap off the airlines to the u/g or should I remove it altogether?

Secondly, I have 50lbs of aragonite sand in the tank and another 30 lbs to spare. How deep, or how many lbs should I have in the tank.......also, why do some tanks have very little and other tanks have so much sand?

 

i would just pull it out since it sounds like the set up is relatively new.

i like a sand bed of 1 inch, deeper sand is to hard to keep clean.

some people run deep sand beds as a method of eliminating nitrates, im not gonna get into a whole dsb vs ssb(shallow sand bed) debate, im just gonna say i think a refugium is a better nitrate export mechanism

 

....some tanks have no sand.

 

Thanks, I figured since it has only been setup for about a week, I could get away with just pulling it our...don't think the damsels will mind! I'm in no hurry and I think that is my greatest attribute at this time. 1" is commonly accepted?

 

lol forgot about barebottom they have a sand bed of 0 inches

 

Ha! yeah, it's only been up and running for 8-9 days

 

i would say yes, most recommendations say below 2 inches. most people that set up a second tank go very shallow i would say, as its easy to notice build up of waste in the bed over the years in the harder to clean beds.

 

thanks... u guys r making this easier each day!

 

I usually run my sand at about 1" to 1.25" tho my maroon clownfish likes barebottom here and 8 inches there. lol

 

I run between 1&1/2 to 2 inches on a sand bed, but I would never go any deeper than that.

And definitely remove the U/G system. Those things can cause problems down the road. Glad you are early in the cycle. Great thing........K+ for the move.