In reef tanks, we create strong currents to mimic what corals and other reef animals would experience naturally. Sand sifting gobies and inverts should have smaller grain sand to ensure they can successfully sift and find food amongst the sand. Jawfish will benefit from medium-grade sand with larger crushed coral pieces and shells mixed in to create a burrow as they would naturally. For example, many Wrasse species should have small-medium grain sand beds to burrow into at night. For starters, there are some animals that prefer larger or smaller grain size sand so be sure your researching appropriately. The grain size or particle size is important for two reasons beyond the aesthetic. To learn more about using dry sand and how to rinse it, check out our video " Why Choose Dry Sand for Your Saltwater Aquarium Sand Bed?". Most dry sands should be rinsed prior to use in your display to help reduce the dust/sediment content. It is typically more affordable but requires a little extra work. Within the Caribsea live sand options, you have the "Oceans Direct" which is collected directly from the ocean and contains the natural biodiversity that comes along with it, and the "Araga-Alive" which is dry sand that is then combined with water that contains live beneficial bacteria before it is packaged.ĭry sand is exactly that, it is packaged dry and does not contain any living bacteria. It is packaged wet, has a low dust/sediment content and is designed to be poured directly into your display without any sort of rinsing or pretreatment required. Live sand is alive with beneficial bacteria that will help initiate or seed the nitrogen cycle in your display aquarium. After that, you should make your final choice based on grain size and color, both of which will affect the overall aesthetic and function of the sand in your reef tank.Ĭalculate how much sand you need using our Sand Bed Calculator. Having said that, you will first choose whether or not you want to use live or dry sand. Thanks.Since sand is a large part of your tank's aesthetic, we always like to advise you to choose sand that looks good to you. I want to make sure that I understand this theory. Before I ask my question can someone or everyone go over my understanding of this process that is part of a DSB. the denitrifying layer of the DSB has bacteria that converts the nitrite into nitrate which is released as dissolved nitrogen gas into the water column and into the air again. So the upper layer of the DSB has nitrifying bacteria which converts the ammonia, detritus and left over food into nitrite. Nitrate can be used by plant life as a nutrient or can be reduced to dinitrogen gas (N2) through denitrifying bacteria. Nitrifying bacteria quickly oxidize ammonia into first nitrite then nitrate. Bacterial activity quickly changes the urea and uric acid in ammonia. The first method is by Animals eating the plants and is excreted back into the environment as urea, uric acid or ammonia. These proteins eventually reenters the environment as ammonia, through 2 ways, I'll only talk about one. Through photosymthesis plants incorporate nitrogen into the proteins of there tissues. Nitrogen(building block of life) is introduced into seawater as nitrogen gas, certain bacteria and blue green algae convert nitrogen into nutrients for plants. This is what I understand about DSB and how it is helpful, please correct me if I am wrong I really don't mind. I will Probably will get a lot of replies on this one. Thanks everyone for your input really appreciate it.
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