Sand: buying it, keeping it.

Sk8r · 05/19/2014, 09:22 AM

Avoid silicate sand. Go for aragonite, which is basically calcium carbonate and safe.
Fine or medium? I can only tell you personally, with an sps reef, in a re-set-up, I tried fine, and spent the next 2 years removing it, after it killed corals. I'm definitely on the medium side. The fine sand, though amply bacteria'ed, would not settle, blew like mad, irritated corals, and was a mess. The medium sand has enough 'shape' to it to enable jawfish to build (I like those guys!) and doesn't blow. It's not as photogenic as the fine stuff, and will get a little cruddy. Several things help with that: a cleanup crew that includes nassarius and one fighting conch per 50 gallon. And if you have necessary exposure to a window, which is almost certainly going to provide a little red cyano on that exposed sand edge, you might just get a band of broad black ribbon or paper that you can place from time to time, covering the exposed sand while not looking too bad on its own. Lack of light will discourage the cyano...which lives on light.

Sand care? I run a deep sandbed, and I do NOT vacuum it: I do have nassarius to do that job. Kicking up your sandbed can kill your tank, and the worse your sandbed is, the more likely it is to crash your tank if disturbed. The little snails work without that overturn. If they aren't getting it, try the ribbon, and add more nassarius.

Buy 'live' sand or not? I never have; but it's ok---watch your expiration date. And if you buy dry sand, put 2-3 lbs in a bucket and run the garden hose in it until the water runs clear instead of milk-white. You can do this an amazing length of time. When you do have all your buckets of sand clean, which can take many bathtubs of water---you can remove the chlorine of the tapwater with a dose of Prime or other such product.

This does NOTHING to remove the phosphate that may arrive with rock and sand---or the remnant of city water; but you just hope it's not too bad.

If there does turn out to be a horrendous hair algae bloom, a fuge won't help you enough in phosphate removal. And never mind a phosphate test: it'll tell you you have none, while your tank is buried in 6" strands of hair algae...and WHY does it lie? Well, it's because there's a ton of phosphate locked up inside that algae and it can't 'read' phosphate that's not in the water.

The fix? Install a GFO reactor. It's cheaper in the long run. And there's pretty well no way to fix it but keep the reactor going, and expect it to take 3-6 months. You can also help kill off algae by pulling it off by hand and tossing it, and also by flipping bad rocks over to expose their unalgaed side. This kills off the algae so the GFO can get the phosphate it's hiding. Some tanks can be so bad the GFO 'saturates' in a week; so judge for yourself when to change the GFO. I've had it so bad it took 3 changes. Ultimately you see the green hair algae start to look yellower and less healthy, and you know you're getting it...but the rock and sand just go on releasing more phosphate until they run out and the GFO has got all of it. Above all, in this situation, you should not be using tapwater: city water supplies are loaded with phosphate.

HumbleFish · 05/19/2014, 09:31 AM

Good write up!

I got sugar sized sand at the insistence of my wife, and I can tell you mixing that with fish that like to play in the sand will lead to many dead bottom corals like plates.

Pigpen17 · 05/19/2014, 10:08 AM

Awesome read. Yeah, I went with fine sand. Now I am in a constant battle between where I want my flow to go, and sandstorms.

Dmorty217 · 05/19/2014, 10:31 AM

450lbs of oolite aragonite sand in my tank

MacWilliams · 05/19/2014, 12:19 PM

yes, I'm having the same issues with my sugar sand. I am upgrading tanks and this is going to be my #1 change. I'm doing with reef grade aragonite sand. Can not wait to get this set up and see the difference. I can move my powerheads down farther to get proper flow in my tank finally.

jay13 · 05/19/2014, 12:24 PM

gotta love the "prewashed" stamp on the bag that the lfs swears means you don't have to wash it. lesson learned over a decade ago. washy washy your sand kids.

Drakon · 05/19/2014, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay13

gotta love the "prewashed" stamp on the bag that the lfs swears means you don't have to wash it. lesson learned over a decade ago. washy washy your sand kids.

Quoted for truth, I just dumped 80 pounds in a 55 to let cycle a few months. Wanted to throw the tank out in the street.

Sk8r · 05/19/2014, 05:43 PM

FOr those who've never met nassarius snails---they're relatives of the whelk, and they live primarily under the sand surface. So do conchs. They may disappear for weeks on end, but they'll munch detritus while they're buried. A real neat lot of critters.

JoelA7 · 05/19/2014, 09:42 PM

Setting up a 48x24x27. Added #40 oolite and #120 Bimini pink which is mostly quite fine but with some wonderful larger grains up to .5". 3-4 days to clear. MP 40's push the fines around creating natural mini dunes like in the ocean. Where the fines are removed the larger pinks remain and wher the fines collect there are small drifts. Looks great. We will see how it goes as inverts coral and fish get added.

05/19/2014, 10:08 AM	#3
Pigpen17 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Tacoma, Wa. Posts: 1,006	Awesome read. Yeah, I went with fine sand. Now I am in a constant battle between where I want my flow to go, and sandstorms. __________________ Never trust a man with a castle in his tank. 56g Column \|Aquamaxx HOB-1 Skimmer \|Reef Breeders Photon 24 LED \|850gph Koralia (X2) \| Maxspect Gyre XF130

05/19/2014, 05:43 PM	#8
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	FOr those who've never met nassarius snails---they're relatives of the whelk, and they live primarily under the sand surface. So do conchs. They may disappear for weeks on end, but they'll munch detritus while they're buried. A real neat lot of critters. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

05/19/2014, 09:22 AM	#1
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Sand: buying it, keeping it. Avoid silicate sand. Go for aragonite, which is basically calcium carbonate and safe. Fine or medium? I can only tell you personally, with an sps reef, in a re-set-up, I tried fine, and spent the next 2 years removing it, after it killed corals. I'm definitely on the medium side. The fine sand, though amply bacteria'ed, would not settle, blew like mad, irritated corals, and was a mess. The medium sand has enough 'shape' to it to enable jawfish to build (I like those guys!) and doesn't blow. It's not as photogenic as the fine stuff, and will get a little cruddy. Several things help with that: a cleanup crew that includes nassarius and one fighting conch per 50 gallon. And if you have necessary exposure to a window, which is almost certainly going to provide a little red cyano on that exposed sand edge, you might just get a band of broad black ribbon or paper that you can place from time to time, covering the exposed sand while not looking too bad on its own. Lack of light will discourage the cyano...which lives on light. Sand care? I run a deep sandbed, and I do NOT vacuum it: I do have nassarius to do that job. Kicking up your sandbed can kill your tank, and the worse your sandbed is, the more likely it is to crash your tank if disturbed. The little snails work without that overturn. If they aren't getting it, try the ribbon, and add more nassarius. Buy 'live' sand or not? I never have; but it's ok---watch your expiration date. And if you buy dry sand, put 2-3 lbs in a bucket and run the garden hose in it until the water runs clear instead of milk-white. You can do this an amazing length of time. When you do have all your buckets of sand clean, which can take many bathtubs of water---you can remove the chlorine of the tapwater with a dose of Prime or other such product. This does NOTHING to remove the phosphate that may arrive with rock and sand---or the remnant of city water; but you just hope it's not too bad. If there does turn out to be a horrendous hair algae bloom, a fuge won't help you enough in phosphate removal. And never mind a phosphate test: it'll tell you you have none, while your tank is buried in 6" strands of hair algae...and WHY does it lie? Well, it's because there's a ton of phosphate locked up inside that algae and it can't 'read' phosphate that's not in the water. The fix? Install a GFO reactor. It's cheaper in the long run. And there's pretty well no way to fix it but keep the reactor going, and expect it to take 3-6 months. You can also help kill off algae by pulling it off by hand and tossing it, and also by flipping bad rocks over to expose their unalgaed side. This kills off the algae so the GFO can get the phosphate it's hiding. Some tanks can be so bad the GFO 'saturates' in a week; so judge for yourself when to change the GFO. I've had it so bad it took 3 changes. Ultimately you see the green hair algae start to look yellower and less healthy, and you know you're getting it...but the rock and sand just go on releasing more phosphate until they run out and the GFO has got all of it. Above all, in this situation, you should not be using tapwater: city water supplies are loaded with phosphate. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%. Last edited by Sk8r; 05/19/2014 at 09:31 AM.

05/19/2014, 09:31 AM	#2
HumbleFish Moved On Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 4,757	Good write up! I got sugar sized sand at the insistence of my wife, and I can tell you mixing that with fish that like to play in the sand will lead to many dead bottom corals like plates.

05/19/2014, 10:31 AM	#4
Dmorty217 Saltwater Addict Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Vandalia OHIO Posts: 11,624	450lbs of oolite aragonite sand in my tank __________________ Fish are not disposable commodities, but a worthwhile investment that can be maintained and enjoyed for many years, providing one is willing to take the time to understand their requirements and needs Current Tank Info: 625g, 220g sump, RD3 230w, Vectra L1 on a closed loop, 3 MP60s, MP40. Several QTs

05/19/2014, 12:19 PM	#5
MacWilliams Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 410	yes, I'm having the same issues with my sugar sand. I am upgrading tanks and this is going to be my #1 change. I'm doing with reef grade aragonite sand. Can not wait to get this set up and see the difference. I can move my powerheads down farther to get proper flow in my tank finally.

05/19/2014, 12:24 PM	#6
jay13 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: michigan Posts: 220	gotta love the "prewashed" stamp on the bag that the lfs swears means you don't have to wash it. lesson learned over a decade ago. washy washy your sand kids.

05/19/2014, 09:42 PM	#9
JoelA7 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Brookline, MA Posts: 1,056	Setting up a 48x24x27. Added #40 oolite and #120 Bimini pink which is mostly quite fine but with some wonderful larger grains up to .5". 3-4 days to clear. MP 40's push the fines around creating natural mini dunes like in the ocean. Where the fines are removed the larger pinks remain and wher the fines collect there are small drifts. Looks great. We will see how it goes as inverts coral and fish get added.