Substrate

[Yarr]

I am planning on making my 100 and my 180 fgal both from BB into sandbeds.. probably about 3 inches i reckon..

just curious as to wht size grain people use..


the only one i can get an real affordable price in crushed marble.. different from CC and it is about 1mm in diamter...

i can get other ones on market.. but quite epxensive for the amount hat i need.. the Red Sea one that apparently is pretty good will costs me over 1000 bucks.. and that is WITH a 50% discount!

[Witfull]

go to the beach~

[Woodstock]

I would not use a substrate of that diameter. Try to get a sugar fine sand.... I second witty's suggestion, go to the beach

[Yarr]

i am dubious about using beach sand for the simple reason that i dont know exactly what i am placing into the tank

[Woodstock]

You could always rinse it, let dry, then rinse again...

[Gina]

If I had access to some of the beaches that I've heard you guys have, I would go there also.

[Cougra]

I would go to the beach but it would be extremely hard to drag me away from it! I wouldn't need the tank as I would be snorkling in the ocean all the spare time I had!

[prow]

dont do the beach. i live at the beach and have all my life. from L.A. county beaches to S.D. and all inbetween. the sand is not good just about anywhere. just from the rain that picks up all kinds of things "oil""soap" from car washes. "chlorine" from sprinklers and such. all this stuff from the streets straight to the beach. washing accross the sand. most drainage from the cutters and washoffs, even sewage, get dumped right off shore. so that nasty water saturates the the sand when it washes up during high tide. not to mention all the stuff the boats put in the water. most ships will dump raw sewage into the water just off shore as they are heading in. so you get nasties washing accross and saturating the sand from all direction. this is not a good place to try to save a few bucks.

if possible try to get some southdow sand from homedepot. i think its called old castle tropical playsand. it says on the bag not for aquaium use but its the same thing as Aragamax select($30 for 30lbs) do a search on it. you will find may links. it cost about $5 bucks for the same bag as the $30 Aragamax bag.

[ReefDave]

i like the carib sea type "fiji pink" it has a nice color and grain size, not too big and not sugar sand...but then again i only use a shallow layer (1/2 inch at most) and essentially keep my tanks like a BB with only a little bit to cover the bottom. (i siphon out the sand completely every few water changes and rinse totally in freshwater.)

[Yarr]

thanks for the advice everyone.

Prow.. that isnt an option for me as i dont live in the US. a 15-20kg bag of aquarium sand costs about 75- 100 bucks.. given tha i will need a whole bunch of those bags.. the cost will rise substantially.

[prow]

Originally Posted by Yarr

thanks for the advice everyone.

Prow.. that isnt an option for me as i dont live in the US. a 15-20kg bag of aquarium sand costs about 75- 100 bucks.. given tha i will need a whole bunch of those bags.. the cost will rise substantially.

aahhh sorry my bad. did not notice your location. ouch on that price. if you do go for the beach sand bake it in your oven for a hour or so. a cheap autoclave to sterilize it. then give it a real good rinse. another thought is useing sand from sand blasters. i dont know alot about it but have heard a few people use it with no issues. might be worth checking out. $100 a bag man thats just outrageous.