Quote Originally Posted by Europhyllia View Post
got ya. and it is a very interesting point. thanks for sharing your findings
It's a topic that's gotten my interest lately... especially since most environments (especially SPS tanks) people try to recreate in their tanks have very little if any sand in nature. Even patch reefs, on the scale of our tanks, have no sand in the areas we try to recreate. Plus, sand adjacent to reefs is very deep so it's possible that much of the labile (usuable) organics are buried. Natural sand beds also have WAAAY more diversity of microbes and other organisms which stir/recycle/trap nutrients. Any nutrients which do escape are diluted in Billions of gallons of pristine oceanic water.

It is just my opinion, but unless a tank needs deep sand, such as in your case, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to run anything more than a 1/4" if you're not a fan of the BB look.