Specific Case Sandbed Question on new Tank!

[Pawlu]

Ok, I want to avoid starting a new debate of the pros/cons of sand beds , deep sand beds or no sand beds at all. I have read a lot of good and bad about both, personally I like the look of sand beds, plus I also love sand dwelling fish (gobies) and shrimp (pistol shrimps) so having a sand bed is both aesthetically pleasing as well as a requirement for the live in the tank.

Now on this new 38 Gallon tank I originally wanted to go 4 " deep to make it officially a DSB, however I settled on a 3" sand bed of various grades. The aquascaping of the tank was done in such a way that there is very little rock directly on top of the sand bed. See tank build details here: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...llon-innovative-marine-nano-reef-project.html


My main question is, what is the best way to maintain this specific sand bed to keep this system healthy for years to come starting right from day 1 assuming that sand sifting animals will live in it (gobies, pistol shrimp, snails etc)?

So i'm looking for advice on things such as, should I gravel vac? If yes how often? What can be done to prevent this sand bed from becoming toxic over time and leading to the demise of the tank? Etc..


Sand bed details:

Bottom layer substrate: CaribSea Aragonite (Aragamax) Sugar sized. (<.025mm). Approx 30% of total sandbed.
Middle Layer: CaribSea Ocean Direct live sand (.25mm-6.5mm, bulk is in the .25mm size). Approx 60% of total sandbed.
Top Layer: CaribSea Aragonite (Reef Sand) 1-2mm Diameter. Approx 10% of total sandbed.


The Sand bed:

 

[theplantman]

I would use a cleanup crew that likes to burrow. Tongan Nassarius and cerith snails, fighting conch, maybe a sand sifting star later on when the tank is established, but the tank may not be large enough to support it long term. I kept a bluespot jawfish that liked to move around the tank and had multiple burrows. He moved alot of sand. Also Rainford Gobies have a tendency to sift sand looking for food, but only the very top layer. And although there are many people that say you should not vacuum a deep sand bed, I used to do mine with every water change. I believe that if you do it carefully and from the start of your tank, you can prevent toxic gas releases into the system. IMO you should either vacuum early and regularly, or not at all. If you go the jawfish route, you will probably need to add some rubble to the tank to help them construct their homes. I am resetting up my Solana and planning on having a jawfish again so my sand bed will be 3" based on 20 lbs of Caribsea arag alive indo pacific .25mm-5mm, mixed with 10lbs of their crushed coral at 2.5-5.5mm. I am hoping the blend has enough fines to keep detritus build up at a minimum but aerated good as well.

 

[Pawlu]

. And although there are many people that say you should not vacuum a deep sand bed, I used to do mine with every water change. I believe that if you do it carefully and from the start of your tank, you can prevent toxic gas releases into the system. IMO you should either vacuum early and regularly, or not at all.

So in terms of gravel vacuum, would this be done very lightly just enough to disturb and overturn the first layer? As you can see my bottom layer is using very fine sand as suggested by many sand bed topics, it gets bigger in grain size towards the top.

 

[theplantman]

I saw, looks like a golf course green profile in reverse, LOL. If you plan on keeping the layering, than only the top layer although i do believe you will find, especially with burrowing critters, they will get blended on their own eventually. I used to vacuum mine to the glass bottom. Insert the vacuum and clean the gravel then lstop the siphon and let the gravel settle again before moving to another location.

 

[Pawlu]

The Jawfish is definately an interesting fish!

 

[theplantman]

I loved my blue spot, great personality. I am going with a pearly jawfish this time. If you get one, make sure you have a tight tank top and block access to your overflow area. I have a 9" surround around the open top of my tank on front and sides and built a screen insert that is 4" high that slides into the back of the surround and rests on the top of my overflow separator. After retrieving my jawfish from equipment area on numerous occasions it was a necessary addition. They jump for no reason at all.