Is a sand bed "just" a sand bed?

EricB · Jun 9, 2014

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[TD="class: alt1, bgcolor: #EBEBEB"]I feel that there are some financial corners that can be cut in this hobby, like buying base rock rather than live rock (there are obviously merits to both other than the economics). I'm all about getting quality equipment and I've learned that there are some corners that can't or shouldn't be cut as well.
I'm in the process of piecing together the bits of a 200DD build that I'm going to start in a few months and I'm fixin to order 160lbs of coarse sand from MarcoRocks. I know some folks have had success with play sand from Home Depot, but I'm not going to go that route. What is it about the more expensive sands, which can be considerably more expensive, that makes it a better choice aside from being live and probably not needing rinsed as well as the dead sand I'm looking at?
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Eienna · Jun 9, 2014

It really depends. Many brands just have nitrifying bacteria added. A select few will take ocean sand with its live critters and ship it to you like live rock.
Why is it that you like the coarser sand?

mainereefer · Jun 9, 2014

it all depends on what you want...
the sand you are refering to from home depot isnt regular play sand, its called southdown and is caribbean beach sand. so basically identical to what you spent more on, I dont think buying the same exact thing for cheaper is cutting corners but you wanted course sand so it wouldnt have worked for you

for me in my sps tank i went dry rock dry sand and bought pods and critters because I only want things in there that I put in there. for sand I used a mix of aragonite and dolomite again not for everyone, dolomite is sharp and can damage the gills of sand sifting fish ect...

with a mixed reef you want the largest ammount of bio-diversity you can get. so I would use with live sand and a wild liverock...

with a sw tank, there are a million ways to make it work with so many variables involved, it is hard to do to do things "wrong"

used to be in this hobby you need to read as much as you can and find a way that works for you. the only problem with that is people read way to much and try to mix and match 10 different methods. that always causes problems! My advice is look for someone that has setup simmilar to what you want to create and copy everything they do.

Pete polyp · Jun 9, 2014

The play sand is silica based, and we normally use aragonite instead. Like stated, silica sand is "sharp" because its pretty much glass. With it being glass instead of aragonite it loses any buffering capability. I find the statement of dry rock cheaper than live rock completely false. You can buy premium tukani live rock from salty supply for under $2.50/lb (it is on sale $119/45lb box). In my experience this rock is very porous and light weight, so it will go father to fill the tank. I have one rock in specific that's 7.6lb and the size of a basketball. I have heard about dry rock leaching phosphate and nitrate as well. You won't have that problem with good live rock. All live rock isn't created equally and this is where you get the horror stories about all the bad hitchhikers from live rock.

Pete polyp · Jun 9, 2014

http://www.saltysupply.com/mobile/Product.aspx?id=5459

this is what 36lb looks like

EricB · Jun 10, 2014

Eienna said:
Why is it that you like the coarser sand?

I've read that Marco's fine grain sand is REALLY fine and people have problems keeping it in one place. I'm going to have an SPS dominated reef and I'll be attempting some sort of gyre and with that kind of flow I don't want to have sand piling up in one spot.

EricB · Jun 10, 2014

Pete polyp said:
The play sand is silica based, and we normally use aragonite instead. Like stated, silica sand is "sharp" because its pretty much glass. With it being glass instead of aragonite it loses any buffering capability. I find the statement of dry rock cheaper than live rock completely false. You can buy premium tukani live rock from salty supply for under $2.50/lb (it is on sale $119/45lb box). In my experience this rock is very porous and light weight, so it will go father to fill the tank. I have one rock in specific that's 7.6lb and the size of a basketball. I have heard about dry rock leaching phosphate and nitrate as well. You won't have that problem with good live rock. All live rock isn't created equally and this is where you get the horror stories about all the bad hitchhikers from live rock.

I meant "play sand" in a generic way. While my question isn't re: dry vs live rock, I appreciate your info. However, I still stand that base rock is (generally) cheaper than live, and for the obvious reasons. When you buy LR, you are also paying for water weight. A 10lb base rock will eventually become a heavier LR because it put's on weight as it absorbs water.

Pete polyp · Jun 10, 2014

Yes... The "play sand" is usually silica based (glass)

reeffirstaid · Jun 10, 2014

Some live sand is reef sand with added anaerobic bacteria. Some live sand is harvested from the Caribbean, straight from the ocean, sealed up and offered for sale. Sand for reef aquariums comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes, from rough, course and large crushed coral sand, to extremely fine sand, suitable for sifting feeding gobies. If you really want to save money, try a bare bottom reef. There are pros and cons to this, and some folks simply don't like the appearance. If you are using live rock and another means of establishing a bio-filter, to me, bare bottom tanks works as an easy way to maintain detritus.

Dead sand and dead (dry) rock, all becomes live sand and live rock. It just takes time, and if you're willing to wait out an extended cycle, in the end it's all relative, just like in WV. To me, live rock and sand works great for folks who want to drop the rock in, ready to go, without the need to condition it beforehand. This comes with risk however, becomes annoying hitchhikers, such as aiptasia anemones, are often introduced on live rock.

EricB · Jun 10, 2014

I have roughly 220 lbs of LR that's cooking in two 33 gallon brute cans. After some searching I think I'm going to pass on the MarcoRock sand and go for Carribsea SeaFlor Special Grade. It's more uniform and there are more reviews to go by.