anyone used this sand
- Thread starter mjslaugh
- Start date
lcstorc
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't say it was better but basically the same and a lot cheaper. If you want you can come in somewhere in between and buy some dry and some "live" sand. If you have a nearby reefer they will often be willing to give you a cup or two of their sand to help seed yours as well.
BigJay
Well-Known Member
after about 6 weeks they will both be the same so there will be no long term mal effects by using dry sand.
When picking the sand for your tank aragonite is what your looking for but you have lots of choices and thats entirely up to you. There are a multitude of color options like white, pink, black. From there you need to decide on your grain size. They range from .1 mm to 3mm for most reef purposes. .1mm to .5mm is basically like powdered sugar and will be difficult to keep it from silting the tank. 2mm to 3mm may be too large for some sand sifters. So if your doing a reef I'd recomend looking at the .5 to 2mm. Its best for you to actually go physically compare them though and see what you like.
You however didn't say if your doing reef, fowlr or fish only tank.
When picking the sand for your tank aragonite is what your looking for but you have lots of choices and thats entirely up to you. There are a multitude of color options like white, pink, black. From there you need to decide on your grain size. They range from .1 mm to 3mm for most reef purposes. .1mm to .5mm is basically like powdered sugar and will be difficult to keep it from silting the tank. 2mm to 3mm may be too large for some sand sifters. So if your doing a reef I'd recomend looking at the .5 to 2mm. Its best for you to actually go physically compare them though and see what you like.
You however didn't say if your doing reef, fowlr or fish only tank.
mjslaugh
New Member
sorry I am a complete newb. I am going reef, I had always planned on getting into SW later on down the road, I just happened to get talked into it early and now I have most everything on order to me to get started(I think), but I am very hesitant of the sand and rock, as I am told that these kinda 'make the tank' so I just needed the help, and as for my location I am up in Spokane, Wa
Royalscott
Member
I used the Carib Sea in both of our tanks and was very happy with it.
anthony911
New Member
great sand
mjslaugh
New Member
okay so I have a couple more questions and I am not sure whether to post a new thread or just use the one I've got going, so I am going to use this one and if I am wrong you can kindly tell me and chalk it up to my being a newb.
So I am wondering about how much sand and LR I need to get, I read that you want around 2" of sand in the tank and I am using a 29g biocube so does anyone know what that means as a total?? Also how much rock should I put in, I have a thread going asking for people offering it up, but I don't even know what questions to ask about it or what a fair price is.
So I am wondering about how much sand and LR I need to get, I read that you want around 2" of sand in the tank and I am using a 29g biocube so does anyone know what that means as a total?? Also how much rock should I put in, I have a thread going asking for people offering it up, but I don't even know what questions to ask about it or what a fair price is.
I can only share with you what I used and the breakin period. I used carib sea reef select dry aragonite sand. 4" deep. reef built with dry reef rock, system seeded with live partially cured live rock in sump. takes about a year for the system to really get some meaning full maturity in a 150 gal. you can speed things up by using partial dry and partial live sand as well as rock, but, your system will still need time to balance and mature. good luck with your buildout.
BigJay
Well-Known Member
your going to find lots of differences of opinions here on sand depth. Some use no sand with the rest of the general consensus being 1 lb of sand per gallon or 1" to 4" of sand bed depth. Some inhabitants actually requiring a much deeper bed then that.
Remember this rule.. there are no rules.. everything has exceptions and maybes.
Remember this rule.. there are no rules.. everything has exceptions and maybes.
I used this sand in my GF's tank: Nature's Ocean - Live Sand after talking to a few local guys who have used it i figured i would give it a try. Worst case scenario if there are no benefits to the sand i just overpaid for sand. But if it does work and cycle the tank faster then great.
I had seen some of the carib sea sand at a few places locally and noticed that the sand was packaged "damp" while the Nature's Ocean sand was packaged with water in the bag. Nature's Ocean products also have a "sell by" date so you can look for bags that are not a month or mear weeks from "going bad"
I myself am new to the hobby but i have found the people on this forum are very helpful and have a large basket of knowledge to share.
I had seen some of the carib sea sand at a few places locally and noticed that the sand was packaged "damp" while the Nature's Ocean sand was packaged with water in the bag. Nature's Ocean products also have a "sell by" date so you can look for bags that are not a month or mear weeks from "going bad"
I myself am new to the hobby but i have found the people on this forum are very helpful and have a large basket of knowledge to share.