Sand Recommendation

[jhale]

For those that are setting up sand beds can an experienced deep sand bed person recommend what type of sand to buy, and where to find it locally.

thanks for the help.

- J

 

[Dace]

how much sand you need, i have some really nice sand that i want to sell.for 50 bucks you can have it all. about 80 to 100 lbs

For those that are setting up sand beds can an experienced deep sand bed person recommend what type of sand to buy, and where to find it locally.

thanks for the help.

- J

 

[jhale]

thanks,

the sand is not for me. I know a couple of our members setting up sand beds now and I want to make sure they get the proper stuff.

what kind of sand do you have?

 

[DRZL]

Hey Jhale,

I think it depends on how much flow(particulate sand size), and if its going to be all one sand type and size, or a mixture

I'd recommend BB , sorry had to throw it in
But really Southdown (now named Caribbean Play Sand, blue bag )is aragonite based sand and you can't beat the prices w/ a stick. I know there is some local to me 07205 NJ

BTW
Ive seen it pop up in a few places;
from my experience after not following the advice of a friend w/ a 210 w. DSB you CANNOT re-use people sandbeds, at least not in the quantities you might think, couple cups is fine to repopulate, but tearing up your sandbed and taking it all out and re-using it will mix the anaerobic w/ air. Instant death, and all your carrying home is hydrogen sulfide (stinky egg smell) back home, in other words someone elses garbage back to your tank. (Dicey humor alert). I even washed mine out, (more green buckets than you can shake a fist at), to no avail, my system crashed.

I can't really recommend DSB as I dont agree w/ it, especially long term, but those are some of my own sandy experiences before i went BB.

My Girl friends tank has a SSB FWIW and shes voluntarily following my advice(after noticing all the fish poop settles on the sand), and siphoning that top layer of sand w/ all the poop and adding sand back whenever necessary.

 

[yessongs]

http://www.esvco.com/prod5.html

 

[jhale]

thanks Robert,

here's info from that thread:

Our "Fine Grade" sand is nonbiogenous in origin and is formed by natural precipitation in only a few tropical oceanic regions throughout the world. As a result, this sand is relatively "new" when speaking in geologic terms, and therefore consists of more soluble, unstable forms of aragonite compared to sand collected from inland sources. Since this aragonite does not originate from living corals, and is continually precipitating in our oceans, it is a readily available, renewable resource.

The very fine particle size of this sand offers many advantages to the aquarist. Finer sands provide an environment which supports a wider diversity of substrate dwelling species than coarser grade sands. It has been our experience that these organisms quickly establish themselves as recruits from live rock. This process usually takes about one month. Seeding with "live sand" may speed up the process and increase the diversity of substrate dwelling organisms. The addition of live sand is not essential for this product to perform as a denitrifying habitat within closed aquaria. The fine particle size also prevents entrapment of larger detritus particles, provides efficient denitrifying zones with as little as one inch depth, and facilitates dissolution of sand by providing very high surface area. The spherical nature of oolites also facilitates more uniform diffusion of water throughout the sand bed. No silica is added to this product, and testing shows our sand to be completely soluble in hydrochloric acid.

The sand is packaged in a reusable plastic 5-gallon pail and cover. 11 pounds of sand will cover 1 square foot of tank bottom with a sand layer 1 inch deep. We recommend 1.5 to 2 inches of sand.

"Fine Grade" Oolitic Aragonite Reef Sand
# 140 - 50 pounds

 

[jhale]

I'd recommend BB , sorry had to throw it in
But really Southdown (now named Caribbean Play Sand, blue bag )is aragonite based sand and you can't beat the prices w/ a stick. I know there is some local to me 07205 NJ

I agree, bare bottom was mentioned and it is not off the table.

This is for a tank that has had problems I believe due to the wrong sized sand picked for the sand bed, and a skimmer that has been out of tune.

I would like to see the tank go BB and get the skimmer up and running, then if the BB look is not to their liking sand can go in later.

for the BB cutting board I always recommend thecuttingboardfactory.com

and there marina board

I don't want to turn this into the dsb vs. bb debate thread so let's leave it at that.

I know where to get the cutting board, I don't know where to find the sand, so that's where the help was needed

 

[yessongs]

Jon, Its been over a year since i talked to E.S.V about B-Ionic thats when he told me they sell sand. At the time it was more money then SD but cheaper then the wet bagged stuff at the LFS.

 

[herman]

Nowadays I would only run BB, but back in the day, I started with Southdown and seeded it. Nowadays you can get really good "seed" from garf called garf grunge. I had quite some success with it for about 4 years before my tank crashed due to the buildup of nutrients in the sandbed and it started to leach crap out. I managed to save most species in the tank. With BB i never experienced such problems.

As far as problems with "snowstorms" due to high flow, I never had them once everything settled.

If for some reason I werer forced to do a sandbed I would not go with any other sand other that aragonite based sand.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

i might not no alot about stuff but i do no argonite sand is the best. :grouphug: :lol:

 

[House of Laughter]

JH, I have one word for you "Kedd"

try to remember his aragonite based bed, it was larger in particulate size so the bacteria to surface area ratio is smaller, but just increase the depth. This also allow you to have higher intrnal flow without sandstorms.

I steered away from DSB in the display as you might remember and went with DSB in the fuge where it is bubbling nicely and has tons of mini brittle stars as well as LR, chaeto, different snails, crabs, mangroves etc.

House

 

[Tonyscoots84]

all i no is when i do my 120 in the future im going BB.....

 

[Kedd]

See, I do read read these threads but, I don't input much, but I will say a DSB works well for ME, not everybody.
Unless you have a good mix of different size sand and layer it correctly I don't think a DSB will work well(also the correct mix of critters).


This is just my thoughts, not fact!!!!
I think southdown is tOOOOOOO fine and can cause a lot of problems, but then again I have seen some tanks that look ok with it.


If people are just starting out, BB may be the way to go, and later if they want to try sand it is much easier to add than remove.

Again just what I think and I'm no expert(I just drink beer).


Kedd

 

[herman]

(I just drink beer).


Kedd

The one thing we all agree on!!

 

[nycmat]

so where do i get the fine grade sand ?? would this be considered 1mm- 2mm??

thanks
matt

jhale you are the man!! thanks

 

[Kedd]

Herman( I hope that's correct)

Beer is good, no great!

We agree on more than that, I have followed a few of your threads, but sand Is the way MY tank looks best, and since my wife likes it, it will stay that way.

So I must find the best way to do it.

Kedd

 

[ShaunW]

Many people talk about DSB crashing as a reason to convert to BB.

While I understand the benefits to both systems and the husbandry involved using both, what I would like to know is can anybody define better for me what a DSB crash is, since I have never seen one?

 

[Kedd]

Solby,
That is a great question!
I haven't either, but I have heard so much about them.
I'm sure they happen though.

Are you guys stopping by?

Kedd

 

[ShaunW]

Jonathan and I are thinking about next Saturday, how's that work for you Kedd?

 

[Kedd]

Sounds Good.
Hope you can make it.

Kedd