Which sand for Peacock?

King Nikon · 03/26/2011, 08:22 PM

What kind of sand do you guys think is best for a peacock?

I used Aragonite Fine Sand before, do you think I should reuse it because I have a lot left?

Use Fiji Pink? Which I have in my display and like it.

Or something else like Seaflor Special Reef Grade Sand because of the slightly larger sand grains.

What do you think?

sjmantis · 03/28/2011, 12:54 PM

You want close to crushed coral as you can get with rubble on top of it

DanInSD · 03/28/2011, 01:55 PM

Aragonite with rock and rubble on top.

King Nikon · 03/28/2011, 02:23 PM

lol 2 different answers >_<

My last peacock did some awesome reinforcement with the tons of rubble I made and fine sand... I was just curious if the fine sand is bad for their gills but probably not.

DanInSD · 03/29/2011, 11:11 AM

Dr. Roy has posted that large-grained, rougher substrates (like crushed coral) can damage the exoskeleton and cause some problems. Perhaps a direct query to him is warranted, he's quite responsive to direct questions via PM.

Perhaps a search would yield one of his earlier responses, it's come up multiple times.

When I've encountered O. scyllarus in the wild (Indonesia) it was always in rocky areas with fine sand (actually, one in the Lembeh Strait was in fine volcanic silt/mud, but then everything in Lembeh is weird). Put in lots of rubble, it's fun to watch them move stuff around.

Regards,
Dan

DanInSD · 03/29/2011, 05:30 PM

OK, I did some searching myself, and I was wrong. The "crushed coral trauma" issue was for squillids. Never mind...

Dan

King Nikon · 03/29/2011, 09:18 PM

lol. I still don't know what is best. I mean I had fine sand before and my peacock loved it, I just threw a lot of live rock rubble in there.

danielbui23 · 03/30/2011, 01:14 AM

This guy in this youtube video has 2 inch mud with a 2 inch aragonite sand bed

Gonodactylus · 03/30/2011, 08:38 AM

O. scyllarus live in a variety of habitats ranging from muck to coral sand to shell. In order to burrow, they need either a substrate that is cohesive (mud) that they can dig in or that is rubbly so that they can fit the pieces together. All fine sand doesn't work well for burrowing since unlike Lysiosquillids, Odontodactylids don't produce lots of mucus to stick the sand grains together. I prefer a mixture of rubble pieces ranging in size from pea to golf ball with fine coral sand as filler. The one thing you do not want to do is use quartz or silica sand since it has sharp edges that abrade the exoskeleton of the stomatopod.

Roy

King Nikon · 03/30/2011, 10:12 AM

Sweet! Thanks for the reply!

KafudaFish · 03/30/2011, 10:45 AM

I used chicken feed, sand and rubble mix and never had issue.

King Nikon · 03/30/2011, 12:11 PM

Ok, after giving it thought, I'm going to use 15 lbs of CaribSea Aragonite Special Grade Reef Sand (1.0-2.0mm grain size), 10-15 lbs of Aragonite Fine Sand I've got a lot of, and then put in a bunch of live rock rubble that are small to large for building material.

03/26/2011, 08:22 PM	#1
King Nikon Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Irvine Posts: 672	Which sand for Peacock? What kind of sand do you guys think is best for a peacock? I used Aragonite Fine Sand before, do you think I should reuse it because I have a lot left? Use Fiji Pink? Which I have in my display and like it. Or something else like Seaflor Special Reef Grade Sand because of the slightly larger sand grains. What do you think?

03/28/2011, 12:54 PM	#2
sjmantis On the cliff by the sea.. Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 561	You want close to crushed coral as you can get with rubble on top of it __________________ 40BR ATI 4x39, 60# Marco rocks, BM Nac7

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03/28/2011, 01:55 PM	#3
DanInSD Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1,255	Aragonite with rock and rubble on top.

03/28/2011, 02:23 PM	#4
King Nikon Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Irvine Posts: 672	lol 2 different answers >_< My last peacock did some awesome reinforcement with the tons of rubble I made and fine sand... I was just curious if the fine sand is bad for their gills but probably not.

03/29/2011, 11:11 AM	#5
DanInSD Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1,255	Dr. Roy has posted that large-grained, rougher substrates (like crushed coral) can damage the exoskeleton and cause some problems. Perhaps a direct query to him is warranted, he's quite responsive to direct questions via PM. Perhaps a search would yield one of his earlier responses, it's come up multiple times. When I've encountered O. scyllarus in the wild (Indonesia) it was always in rocky areas with fine sand (actually, one in the Lembeh Strait was in fine volcanic silt/mud, but then everything in Lembeh is weird). Put in lots of rubble, it's fun to watch them move stuff around. Regards, Dan

03/29/2011, 05:30 PM	#6
DanInSD Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1,255	OK, I did some searching myself, and I was wrong. The "crushed coral trauma" issue was for squillids. Never mind... Dan

03/29/2011, 09:18 PM	#7
King Nikon Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Irvine Posts: 672	lol. I still don't know what is best. I mean I had fine sand before and my peacock loved it, I just threw a lot of live rock rubble in there.

03/30/2011, 01:14 AM	#8
danielbui23 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Yukon, Oklahoma Posts: 154	This guy in this youtube video has 2 inch mud with a 2 inch aragonite sand bed

03/30/2011, 08:38 AM	#9
Gonodactylus Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Berkeley, CA, USA Posts: 5,024	O. scyllarus live in a variety of habitats ranging from muck to coral sand to shell. In order to burrow, they need either a substrate that is cohesive (mud) that they can dig in or that is rubbly so that they can fit the pieces together. All fine sand doesn't work well for burrowing since unlike Lysiosquillids, Odontodactylids don't produce lots of mucus to stick the sand grains together. I prefer a mixture of rubble pieces ranging in size from pea to golf ball with fine coral sand as filler. The one thing you do not want to do is use quartz or silica sand since it has sharp edges that abrade the exoskeleton of the stomatopod. Roy

03/30/2011, 10:12 AM	#10
King Nikon Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Irvine Posts: 672	Sweet! Thanks for the reply!

03/30/2011, 10:45 AM	#11
KafudaFish Cyprinius carpio Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 4,496	I used chicken feed, sand and rubble mix and never had issue.

03/30/2011, 12:11 PM	#12
King Nikon Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Irvine Posts: 672	Ok, after giving it thought, I'm going to use 15 lbs of CaribSea Aragonite Special Grade Reef Sand (1.0-2.0mm grain size), 10-15 lbs of Aragonite Fine Sand I've got a lot of, and then put in a bunch of live rock rubble that are small to large for building material.