Sand Grain Size Recommendation/Discussion

[othercents]

So when I original setup my tank I walked to the LFS and picked up a bag of CaribSea Aragonite sand, but not sure what size grain it was. I would like to know what people used in their first SW tank and what they would recommend. For reference lets stick with the CaribSea Dry Aragonite brands.

http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/dry_aragonite.html

Here is a shot of my sand with a reference point. Maybe someone knows what type of CaribSea Aragonite sand it is.

David

 

[Zooid]

I used crushed coral in my first tank. I will never again use crushed coral, it traps too much detritus and I hate vacuuming the bottom.
Right now I'm using a mixture of Carribsea SeaFlor and a finer Caribsea sand. I love it. My Vortechs keep the detritus from collection on the
bottom so it still looks decent.

 

[djkms]

I use caribsea super reef. It does however trap detritus and requires cleaning. It all depends on your purpose of the substrate though. I chose super reef because it is the most compatible with the most amount animals. I knew that I would be getting a jawfish and sugar fine is too fine. If you plan on having fish that make homes in the substrate sugar fine is not the way to go.

If you're doing it for pure aesthetics then I would say use a sugar fine sand 1-2" deep. If your doing it for denitrification then sugar fine again and at least 6". For fish that make homes, tunnels, etc then super reef for sure.

 

[othercents]

I'm switching tanks and this is the best time to make this type of change. I have been happy with the sand (which I think is SeaFloor), but I'm doubling the size of the tank which actually only changes the bottom of the tank from 360sq/in to 480sq/in. I'm going to need about 7 pounds more sand. I have half a bag of crushed coral that I used for my mantis that I can mix some with my current sand, or put in the Aragamax select or fuji pink sand which will make it equivalent to Super Reef or better since average size would be smaller. The fuji pink comes in 15pd bags which isn't a problem if I have slightly more than 2" or just place the rest in my sump. I definitely haven't done anything to my current sand to keep it clean other than the CUC.

BTW. I do have the scooter blenny which at night puts himself under the sand, so I'm not planning on getting sugar sized sand especially with the powerheads.

 

[Zooid]

When you add crushed coral to sand, the crushed coral inevitably ends up covering the sand.
For some reason, even if you mix it, the crushed coral will slowly emerge and cover the sand again hehe.

 

[othercents]

When you add crushed coral to sand, the crushed coral inevitably ends up covering the sand.
For some reason, even if you mix it, the crushed coral will slowly emerge and cover the sand again hehe.

Wouldn't that be the same issue with mixing sugar sized sand with SeaFloor? The larger SeaFloor grains will end up on top and the sugar sized sand end up on bottom?

 

[little_fish]

Yep, the smaller particles will fall through the pockets created by the larger particles and so the large stuff ends up on top

 

[djkms]

The finest grains of any substrate will settle to the bottom and the larger grains up top. Same thing happens to my super reef substrate.

 

[Zooid]

Wouldn't that be the same issue with mixing sugar sized sand with SeaFloor? The larger SeaFloor grains will end up on top and the sugar sized sand end up on bottom?

True, but SeaFlor is a lot closer to sugar than crushed coral. I don't see a big difference in my layers but that could just be due to the age of my sandbed.

 

[othercents]

So I could put a layer of sugar sized on the bottom and cover it with what I have? The only problem is finding only 7 pounds. Probably stick with getting the fuji pink.

 

[Zooid]

Personally I wouldn't reuse a sandbed unless it was thoroughly cleaned. If there happens to be
a pocked of hydrogen sulfide in the old bed that releases in the new tank, you would have a graveyard.
I WOULD take a cup or so of the existing bed just to start the bacterial growth but I'd use new sand
because I'm a cautious weenie lol.

 

[othercents]

Personally I wouldn't reuse a sandbed unless it was thoroughly cleaned. If there happens to be a pocked of hydrogen sulfide in the old bed that releases in the new tank, you would have a graveyard. I WOULD take a cup or so of the existing bed just to start the bacterial growth but I'd use new sand because I'm a cautious weenie lol.

GAH!!! :wall:

The tank is only like 5 months old and I moved part of the sand from my 10g which was 1 month old. I have to place the new aquarium where the old one is, so while I move the water, fish, rocks and everything from the old tank, I could wash the sand with vinegar and hot water to clean it up unless someone has some SeaFloor Reef Sand sitting around I could "borrow" as long as you don't care if you get the exact grains back.

 

[Zooid]

you should be ok...your bed isn't too old.
I wouldn't use vinegar on it though....it may start to breakdown the aragonite sand. (similar to how a calcium reactor works)
Just smell your sand as you move it...make sure it doesn't have a rotten egg smell or other wretched stink.

 

[little_fish]

You dont have to put the sand in right away. You can move and run the tank bare bottom for a few weeks. That will give you plenty of time to wash the sand out.

And the easiest way to wash the sand is to put it in a bucket and stick a hose in there. let the water run over the edge, stirring the sand until the water comes off clear.

 

[Cake_Boss]

You dont have to put the sand in right away. You can move and run the tank bare bottom for a few weeks. That will give you plenty of time to wash the sand out.

And the easiest way to wash the sand is to put it in a bucket and stick a hose in there. let the water run over the edge, stirring the sand until the water comes off clear.

IME, its best to put the sand in now. Putting it in later will cause a mini cycle when you do put it in.

I also wouldn't reuse the sand. It would be an easier process to replace it.

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[othercents]

IME, its best to put the sand in now. Putting it in later will cause a mini cycle when you do put it in.

I also wouldn't reuse the sand. It would be an easier process to replace it.

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If you are using live rock as your primary filtration then I don't really see why putting clean sand into a tank would cause a noticeable cycle. At least no worse than adding a new fish into the tank.

In my case the new tank is going where the old one is sitting, so I'm going to have to move everything into buckets before placing everything back into the new tank. I can see where using new sand could be easier, but I think it is a wash in my case.

As I see it I have two options:

1) Buy 15 pounds of new sand to use along with the old sand I can rinse and reuse.
2) Buy 50 pounds of new sand.

There really hasn't been many recommendations on new sand to use. I'm leaning toward getting the SeaFloor Special Reef Sand again since it has worked well for me and I don't like the sugar sand. I also don't want to cause anymore work by adding super reef sand.

 

[little_fish]

If you rinse it out well, there should be close to nothing in there to cause a cycle. And if adding sand causes a mini-cycle, wouldnt it cause a mini cycle if you put it in immediately, because no matter when you put it in, you are going to stir up junk.

 

[Mini T]

I use sugar fine and my diamond gobys don't seem to be having any problems tunneling. I just put a couple of flat rocks on the bottom. Other than my mp40s kicking up a bit of sand now and then, no issue.