Deep Sand Bed

[Cstar_BC]

I had a long tentacled anemone (macrodactylis I think??) for about 9/10 years in a standard 6 foot 125 gal. Was pretty good size, foot was about 4 inches diameter and stretched up a good 8/9 inches probably. I ended up making a small acrylic box about 6/7 inches square, filling it about 90% with fine grain reef sand, then set the foot right on top of the sand. It eventually dug down to the bottom within a day. Lived there for many years till I sold it. Was cool cuz I could grab the box and move it if I needed to do some kind of tank maintenance etc... I kept it in a corner against the back and the over flow box and placed live rock in front to hide the container so it looked more natural. Not sure as to the carpet anemone, I would size up the animals current dimensions and tailor the box to fit.
Side story: I purchased said anemone along with a fluorescent pink carpet anemone when I first got into this hobby (1996). Typical noob, rookie story. Inexperienced. Bought animals I thought I had done enough research on but hadn’t. The carpet died 1 to 2 weeks later. Figured out later it had been injected with dye to make it more colorful. I placed the long tentacle under the brighter portion of the tank with compact fluorescents and it would “walk” over the span of a day or so to the opposite end of the tank which was only lit by regular fluorescents. I’d move it and it’d “walk” back over to the “dark side”. After the 3rd or 4th time, I figured it was going where it wanted to be. Plus I was tired of peeling the foot off the rock which is not the easiest.
Sorry for the long post

I'm so sorry to hear about your carpet - I would be so upset and what a ridiculous practice!

The box idea is super neat - unfortunately my sand has been placed and so far so good. Just have my eye on some large wrasses now to hopefully dive in and stir up the sand

 

[tamanning]

Looking to see if anyone has successfully kept a deep sand bed and has some suggestions .

I have a carpet anemone so need at least 4”

Now since we are mostly trying to mimic ocean conditions has anyone ever layered the sand

like 40% coarse crushed coral ,40% special grade and 20% sugar (bottom-up)

to me the biggest issues with DSB is the pockets of waste . I would assume this is from small sand particles binding together and becoming compacted where as larger particle sizes still allow space .

my plan is to have an army of conch/sand sifters blennies .

the tank is 240 gallon , 56l x33w

any tips welcome

Also I’ve looked into reduced sand beds and many people suggested a pvc pipe - my carpets foot is already the diameter of a side dinner plate so I think we are past that option

My tank is close to 8 years old. I've been using the same sand from the beginning .I started with 5 inches even but burrowing snails fish and flow have shifted it over the years to 6 and seven inches in areas while others are lower. I have fighting conchs nassarius snails I also have a small army of small black burrowing snails that at the moment I can't remember the species around 100. there are several types of worms endless pods and god knows what else is in there at this point. Point is it takes care of itself. My nitrates have been undetectable for at least 4 years and other than dosing I just feed my fish and sometimes my corals. I hope this helps you. if you have any questions. please ask. Tim