SAND: Does the size of sand grains matter for the nitrate?

[laurahmm]

Hello everyone... was wondering if anyone knew if the size of the sand grains matter? MY lfs sells two size for the Live Sand Aragonite that comes in a bag. The larger size grains come only in 20lb bags and are more expensive than the 40 lb bag. I purchased the 40lb bag but the grains are fairly small. I read somewhere that to be effective for the nitrate/beneficial bacteria the sand grains had to fairly large. Does anyone know if this is true? Any advice, comments would be appreciated. Also how large do the sand grains have to be if this is the case.


Laura

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Laura, and :welcome:

If I recall correctly, the smaller the gain size, the larger the surface area of the total sand volume. Therefore 10 pounds of a smaller gain size would have more surface area and more denitrifying capacity than 10 pounds of a larger gain sand.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

To the first estimate, yes, it is kind of related to the denitrifying capacity. However, the relationship is not linear, and having too small of grain size can actually decrease the capacity due to the restriction in water precolation. Other factors also comes into play here (grain size distribution), so it is best to not to make any particular recommendation, since they all pretty much going to work the same.

I just want to say that the best thing to do is to get rid of the source of nitrate instead of relies on denitrating process. Get a nice skimmer, not overfeed, and do regular water change is probably the best thing for any tank setup. It is more work that have the "optimal" sand, but that is the most "tried and true" thing to do. Good luck, and welcome to RDO.