Sand?

lilreefgirl

lilreefgirl

Reefing newb
I am planning on using dry rock to start my system, and wondering if there is also "dry sand"?
If so, do I have to get it at the LFS? All I have seen are the very expensive bags of live sand...is there a point to that? Can you not just seed dry sand with live rock or a handful of live sand from an established tank??

Thanks!
 
Aragonite sand is great. Larger particles don't work best-- sugar sized sand is generally good. large particles cause nitrate trap. There is no point in buying live sand. Get dry. I always get mine from the LFS because I worry that the stuff sold at, say, home depot (you know, the kind for sandboxes and stuff) is higher in silicates... which means your dino bloom in the beginning of the tank cyclin will last forever. but I've never actually tried it.
 
When i said larger aragonite is the preference, i meant stay away from sand you might call "beach sand", the very fine particle, which is good at trapping nitrate pockets.
 
Re: Sand/

Okay - update!

I bought 50lbs of dry rock and 15lbs of dry sand. The "NSLFS" owner gave me a handful of live rubble/sand to seed it with.
It is now in a 10g tank with Koralia 3 circulating. It's pretty cloudy now, even after washing - I think the powerhead is just too strong, but it has settled a bit overnight.
I have no idea how long it will take to become live rock/sand - should I buy a larger piece of live rock instead of relying on the handful of rubble?
Should I have a light on it or leave it off? The tank its in used to be a FW with incandescent bulbs.
The sand I bought is Aragonite (sugar size) - I am planning on at least 2 inches of sand bed (I think) Should I be using anything specific (size/type) - I have also heard not to use sugar size for DSB (2" & over??)...which is right?

Thanks!!
 
Last edited:
I recently just bought special grade reef sand which is slightly larger than argonite. The only reason I decided to not get the sugar size argonite is because I think I went slightly overboard on flow as well and have heard the sugar sized sand tends to float around and pile up more.
 
You don't want to put a DSB in your main tank -- it can cause problems down the road, and it will take up space that you could otherwise use for something useful, like rock, water or fish. A 2 inch sandbed or less is perfect. Anything more will just trap waste. A DSB isn't even effective (and isn't technically a DSB) until it's 6 inches deep or more, so anything in between 2 and 6 inches is useless and is just a waste trap.

Your tank will take 2 or 3 days to clear up after adding sand. That's totally normal, even if you tried your hardest to clean it off first.
 
Bifferwine said:
You don't want to put a DSB in your main tank -- it can cause problems down the road, and it will take up space that you could otherwise use for something useful, like rock, water or fish. A 2 inch sandbed or less is perfect. Anything more will just trap waste. A DSB isn't even effective (and isn't technically a DSB) until it's 6 inches deep or more, so anything in between 2 and 6 inches is useless and is just a waste trap.

Your tank will take 2 or 3 days to clear up after adding sand. That's totally normal, even if you tried your hardest to clean it off first.
Click to expand...

Is the Hydor Koralia 3 too much circulation for the 20g tank? Only thing in there is seeding rock and sand. I have a tiny little fountain pump that I use to fill buckets etc - I honestly think it is less than 100GPH Should I put that in there instead of the powerhead?

Thanks!!
 
Imma noob but from what I've heard is the more flow the better as long as your not blowing corals off rocks, creating a sand storm, or tsunamai.
 
Y'all might want to save what I'm about to post.:D

I think the K3 is probably pushing it a bit far in a 20gal.:D A K2 or even a couple of K1s would probably work better in that small a tank.
 
Okay, now yer gonna freak...I posted it wrong, the rock is in a 10gal. :shock:

Do you think I can use that really small pump?

Is seeding better in a low-flow, or should it be whipping around pretty swiftly? If it can sit in pretty slow water, then I would be happy to use the small pump. If I move the rock/sand to a large plastic container, I could only put about 20 gal of water in it anyway, that's all the RO I have right now.
 
Last edited:
In a 10,Yeah I'd use the smaller pump.The flows not that critical for seeding the rock per say.But the flying sand will effect the growth and bacteria on the rock your trying to seed.IMO.
 
Sounds good, I'm doing that right now! :mrgreen:

Do you know how long it will take to seed? I have heard 3-4 weeks, I have also heard 4-6 months...I only have a handful of rubble in there, should I buy a larger piece to put in there?

Any thoughts on lights? Can I use that incandescent, or do I need to have a light on it at all?
 
Last edited:
Okay, now I'm thinking (maybe overthinking)
I think I am going to put it in the larger container (bin is about 3 feet long) so I can add to it (I still need quite a bit of rock for the display)
I just need to know if I need to use lights, or can I leave it in the dark?...and do I keep topping up with salt water, or just RO? ( I am thinking salt, but dont want to assume)
 
If you are just seeding live rock, you do not need lights. The bacteria will grow just fine without lighting.

As for topping it off, top off with fresh (RO) water. When water evaporates, it leaves the salt behind. If you top it off with salt water, you'll just increase your salinity more and more.
 

Similar threads

F
New to marine.
Replies
2
Views
2K
kbuser92
kbuser92
Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
774
Mike
Mike
I
Is this a live rock?
Replies
1
Views
5K
kbuser92
kbuser92
Sashimi
75G LPS 2.0
Replies
2
Views
2K
Sashimi
Sashimi
Mike
  • Sticky
New Member (Owner 😲)
Replies
0
Views
762
Mike
Mike
Back
Top