How much lighting/adding sand bed?

[ron101]

Hi George,

"I want to add a sand bed to my 10 gal. should i put it on top of my present cruched coral substrate?"

The finer the substrate grains the more efficient your sand bed will be. Since you have a short tank you don't have the height to play with. So if you have the finer type of crushed coral, it should be satisfactory, if not I would replace it. A 3" sand bed would be a reasonable compromise for a 10 gal.

"I have a 55 watt pc. I was told it would be fine."

More than adequate for a 10 gal (aka nano) soft coral reef. In fact going with more lighting may well cause temperature problems.

"Also what is a recommended alk. test kit and calcium test kit."

I use the Salifert kits. Higher intial cost but they go a long way and have a good reputation for accuracy.