To put a sand bed in an established

To put a sand bed in an established tank, remove any gravel or crushed oral, and thenadd the new sand, about an inch at a time. Don't worry overly much about the cloudinessin the water, reef animals are adapted to this and will be able to tolerate it easily. In anew tank, simply put all of the sand you need on the tank's bottom, add water and placeyour live rock in or on the sand. There is no need for any sort of platform to support therock. I embed the live rock a bit into the sediment to give it stability.After filling the tank with water, some initial bacterial and infaunal source will need tobe added. This is usually "live sand" or "LIVE SAND." The former is simply wet sand thathas been in a marine system at some time. It will have some bacteria in it, but littleelse, and I consider it worthless. "LIVE SAND" will have been collected in a marine areaand shipped directly to you or the pet store where you may purchase it. It often has areasonable array of animals in it, and it is what you need to give your tank a good start.At least ten percent of your total tank volume, by weight, should be LIVE SAND; more isbetter.