Caribsea Bahama Oolite in mixed reef

[nightster]

So I bought 100lbs of this Bahama oolite sand and didn't realize how small the grains were. I plan on setting up a mixed reef tank (SPS/LPS) with most of the flow in the upper 1/3 of tank. Am I going to have a problem getting it to stay in place and not blow around? I need about 40 more pounds of sand to reach my desired depth and was thinking about capping it with special grade to make up for the small grain size of the oolite. Should I just bite the bullet and buy 60-80 pounds of special grade and just mix the 2? Or will I be alright with 100 pounds of oolite and 40 or so of special grade? Never used oolite so I don't know what to expect when it comes to how much flow it takes to move it. I plan on having a sand sifter in the tank also and don't want sand suspended in the water column too long.

 

[brandon429]

any of these sands needs total pre rinsing in order to be cloudless, thats where you'll know if its too small and yes Ive heard of the oolite having to be removed after the full setup due to being too light.

rinsing in tap water does not harm bacteria, no lab tech on the planet agrees that smearing tap water across their work surfaces removes bacteria or even remotely cleans anything, it brings new bacteria in


in this case the pre rinse is to remove silt that will opaque your new tank


forum posters usually say however that tap rinsing removes bacteria, they've tested it and know for sure, this duality exists for you to choose from

you can certainly not rinse the sand and deal with the initial clouding as well, tons of those posts are online to choose which way you want the new reef to exist. in this case a pre rinse will show how hard it is to control those tinier grains like tank current will be.

if you choose to pre rinse any live sand before use, the benefit is having to wait 0 days for total cloudless control over the sand. if you choose to not rinse, we have threads showing quite the headache weeks later...if a powerhead dislodges or a rock stack falls etc, total clouding in the system. can choose.

 

[nightster]

Should I rinse with tap water or should I rinse with rodi? I feel like rinsing with tap water would defeat the purpose of using rodi.

 

[brandon429]

tap, because tap water does not remove bac, it brings in bacteria, Ive tested it in bac labs for a long long time.

(technically any water rinsing removes bacteria that were ready to slough out, but its not different than using seawater, tap used as a brief rinse doesnt have a stat significant antibacterial advantage over any other water)


ro is costly, and runs out. you'll need probably one hour rinse per bag, in sections, its that bad

ro is the final rinse, to evacuate tap, before use.

irony: bag says no rinse required lol look at these rough starts from our 40 page sand pre rinse thread:

 

[brandon429]

Add new sand without rinse
Hi guy, I just add new special grade sand without rinse. I added slowly 1/3 bag per day, but didn’t rinse. My tank seem cloudy, but I have skimmer and 2 filter socks. My tank has sps, lps and 9 fishes. Should I expect a mini cycle. I concern my coral and fish die tomorrow

www.reef2reef.com
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/so-i-didnt-rinse.592624/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sandbed-stirred-up.544852/#post-5723606

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/very-cloudy-water-after-sand-and-rock.559386/#post-5735864
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/question-about-vacuuming-sand-bed.616059/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-tank-milky-cloudy.616519/

Ocean direct live sand from CaribSea
Has anyone used ocean direct sand and what are your thoughts? I used it in my nano and noticed that any sand movement clouds the area pretty quickly. Any fixes for this or is it just part of having this sand

www.reef2reef.com

10 days, still won't settle and clouds fully
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cloudy-tank.576835/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bummer-could-use-some-help.558301/

 

[brandon429]

the only reefs who use the oolitic are the medium flow ones, or very careful aiming of powerheads to not cavitate etc. they're finicky

the special grade ocean direct seems nice among users, fiji pink always a classic

 

[Hot2na]

the only reefs who use the oolitic are the medium flow ones, or very careful aiming of powerheads to not cavitate etc. they're finicky

the special grade ocean direct seems nice among users, fiji pink always a classic

You can use it in a high flow situation...just add a layer of crushed coral , or tropic eden 2-3 mm stuff on top...it works

 

[AdamB]

I have oolite sand in my African cichlid tank and I wish I had used in in my reef tank .If you do sps tank with high flow them topdress with larger as mentioned in chain

 

[IrezumiHurts]

any of these sands needs total pre rinsing in order to be cloudless, thats where you'll know if its too small and yes Ive heard of the oolite having to be removed after the full setup due to being too light.

rinsing in tap water does not harm bacteria, no lab tech on the planet agrees that smearing tap water across their work surfaces removes bacteria or even remotely cleans anything, it brings new bacteria in


in this case the pre rinse is to remove silt that will opaque your new tank


forum posters usually say however that tap rinsing removes bacteria, they've tested it and know for sure, this duality exists for you to choose from

you can certainly not rinse the sand and deal with the initial clouding as well, tons of those posts are online to choose which way you want the new reef to exist. in this case a pre rinse will show how hard it is to control those tinier grains like tank current will be.

if you choose to pre rinse any live sand before use, the benefit is having to wait 0 days for total cloudless control over the sand. if you choose to not rinse, we have threads showing quite the headache weeks later...if a powerhead dislodges or a rock stack falls etc, total clouding in the system. can choose.

 

[IrezumiHurts]

Years later, and this is the answer i needed to read. Thank you so much, this makes so much sense