$900 for sand?

[sloanhaus]

I’m starting my 300 gallon tank over again. I put in the dimensions in the calculator and for me to have a 3’’ bed of sand I need 400 lbs of sand. The Fiji pink is around $20 for 10 lbs. is this right, are we paying $900 for sand? Thinking about going BB as no gobie is worth that much. Thoughts? Also, do I need 3’’?

 

[Florida Sunshine]

You don't need 3 inches. You can go as deep or as shallow as you like. Personally I like 1-2 inches. Also you don't need to buy live sand. It is much more expensive and while it may have some benefit (highly debated topic) I would not say it was worth that much money.

 

[alton]

After you place all your liverock on the glass, you just need enough sand to fill in around the rock.

 

[rkpetersen]

I have found live sand to have no measurable effect on reducing cycle time. Live rocks absolutely, live sand nope. Also, although they say not to rinse it, if you do so anyway, you will find lots of brown organic sludge and often fragments of man-made objects. The stuff is filthy; some of that may be beneficial bacteria, but who knows what else is in there? As far as I can see, Carib Sea live sand is just sand taken from beaches and put directly into bags, I don't think they've done any processing whatsoever. If so, hitchhikers can arrive in live sand just like in live rock. Also, if you actually read the label on the bag, the amount of made-up and unsubstantiated BS there is truly impressive. Personally, if you can get the same sand but non-live, you'll be better off for it and probably pay a lot less.

 

[Greybeard]

Don't know where you're getting your prices, but that seems real high to me.

A quick peek shows Amazon has CaribSea Bimini-Pink on Prime at $22.19 for a 20lb bag

https://www.amazon.com/CaribSea-Ara...1523372019&sr=8-1&keywords=special+reef+grade

I didn't pay near that much... Call your LFS, tell 'em you want dry aragonite sand, see what they can come up with. I think I payed about 60 cents a pound for the 80 lbs I used in my 60" x 30" tank. No, it's not pink... but if you take a good look at the Fiji or Bimini pink... it's not very 'pink' either, especially under blue light.

 

[sloanhaus]

Great points, thanks for the info.

 

[Jesterrace]

I’m starting my 300 gallon tank over again. I put in the dimensions in the calculator and for me to have a 3’’ bed of sand I need 400 lbs of sand. The Fiji pink is around $20 for 10 lbs. is this right, are we paying $900 for sand? Thinking about going BB as no gobie is worth that much. Thoughts? Also, do I need 3’’?

I did live sand in my 36 and then my 90 but it was Caribsea and cost $1 per lb. I would never pay more than that for sand no matter what it was. Also as mentioned you don't need to get a sandbed that deep. I have 60lbs in my 90 and it is plenty.

 

[NinnJinn]

Some sand calculators are way off!!!

I put my dimensions in for my 125gal with a 2 in deep sand bed it said need to purchase 200 lb of sand. I ended up buying 200lbs instead and I still have a 40 pound bag unopened and I ended up with a 3-inch sand bed.

 

[Water Dog]

Just be careful with the Caribsea Fiji Pink if you plan to have strong flow as the grain size is fairly small. For Caribsea sand, I prefer Special Grade Aragonite sand for its larger grain size. For my new build, I will be using Tropic Eden Reef Flakes so I could really turn up the flow.

 

[Greybeard]

Just be careful with the Caribsea Fiji Pink if you plan to have strong flow as the grain size is fairly small. For Caribsea sand, I prefer Special Grade Aragonite sand for its larger grain size. For my new build, I will be using Tropic Eden Reef Flakes so I could really turn up the flow.

They're making Bimini pink in special reef grade particle sizes now.

I like special reef grade too, that's what I'm using. Never tried reef flakes, but I hear good things

 

[User1]

Well, one thing that is often overlooked are little things like this. Larger aquariums need more stuff. More stuff adds up the total cost of the tank from countdown to launch to obtaining low earth orbit if you catch my drift. I'm only saying this having gone through this with my measly 210 gallon tank that is recently finished its cycle. Larger tank, more salt, more sand, more rock, larger pumps, sump, lights, etc. Odd has it sounds little things like spending $500 dollars or so on sand seems crazy...it does make you re-think or plan for a backup plan.

I believe I ended up ordering 6 or so 40lb bags of CaribSea - 2 being the pink Fiji and the other 4 being the heavier / larger Florida type. It ended up giving me the depth I wanted with a bag to spare. I think in the end I was about $240 or so into just that. It does add up though...