Mixing sand

[logibear]

Planning a waterbox reef 190.5 in the next year. Tbs sand and rock are great but not sure I can spend the amount of money for that to be all I use. Has anyone mixed TBS sand and caribsea special grade reef sand? Just wondering if it’ll look ok or if it will be weird. Thanks in advance!

 

[Fish Fan]

Hi!

I'm no expert and others may certainly offer better advice. I have been out of the reefing game for over a decade, but I recently got back in with two small tanks, a 15 gallon and a 10 gallon. Both were started with Tampa Bay Saltwater aquacultured live rock and sand, and I couldn't be happier with it, and I feel it's well worth the expense. I had been intrigued by TBS rock and sand for years, and though I've been planning a larger tank using dry rock and sand, I thought I'd start my little tanks with the TBS rock/sand, and I'm so glad I did.

I'm not sure if you know this, but TBS does offer small packages of their rock and sand delivered directly to your door, they call them their "treasure chests".

I ended up ordering three of their small treasure chest packages, but I had them shipped by the air freight option, which is where you pick it up at or near you local major airport. I had for years resisted this option as both expensive and a pain to go pick up. Turns out, shipping my three treasure chest packages via air freight was way cheaper than the "treasure chest to your door" option. Picking up my shipment at my local airport was a bit of a pain because no one at my local airport could tell me where to go to pick up an air freight shipment, but that's not on TBS, and once I found where I was going it was super easy. Now that I know where to go, I would absolutely order TBS rock and sand for an air freight pick up without hesitation.

I started my tanks with TBS rock and sand on November 13th with just the rock, sand, and whatever hitchhikers came with. To this day, I am still finding critters. With my rock and sand I also received a bunch of Astraea and Cerith snails, hermits, a Mithrax crab, several porcelain crabs, a brittle star and more. I continue to find things like what I believe to be a Florida grass shrimp and a decorator crab.

By the way, the good ladies at TBS were unbelievably responsive, patient, and helpful with my 1000 or so questions I threw at them before ordering. I'd encourage you to reach out the them with any questions you have, I know they will be extremely helpful.

If you're even a little bit considering rock and sand from the good ladies at TBS, please do not hesitate!

@LiverockRocks - thanks again ladies! Rock on!

EDIT: You can absolutely mix Caribbsea sand with TBS live sand. This was my plan, but TBS sent me so much, I didn’t need the Caribbsea sand after all.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Planning a waterbox reef 190.5 in the next year. Tbs sand and rock are great but not sure I can spend the amount of money for that to be all I use. Has anyone mixed TBS sand and caribsea special grade reef sand? Just wondering if it’ll look ok or if it will be weird. Thanks in advance!

Ive mixed live and new with no issues. Expect nitrates to go up and down for a couple of days but pans out

 

[Fish Fan]

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Planning a waterbox reef 190.5 in the next year. Tbs sand and rock are great but not sure I can spend the amount of money for that to be all I use. Has anyone mixed TBS sand and caribsea special grade reef sand? Just wondering if it’ll look ok or if it will be weird. Thanks in advance!

Look at my tank thread second to last page . That build is what you are asking about. I would use crushed coral instead of sand. It will better match the TBS sand

 

[logibear]

Hi!

I'm no expert and others may certainly offer better advice. I have been out of the reefing game for over a decade, but I recently got back in with two small tanks, a 15 gallon and a 10 gallon. Both were started with Tampa Bay Saltwater aquacultured live rock and sand, and I couldn't be happier with it, and I feel it's well worth the expense. I had been intrigued by TBS rock and sand for years, and though I've been planning a larger tank using dry rock and sand, I thought I'd start my little tanks with the TBS rock/sand, and I'm so glad I did.

I'm not sure if you know this, but TBS does offer small packages of their rock and sand delivered directly to your door, they call them their "treasure chests".

I ended up ordering three of their small treasure chest packages, but I had them shipped by the air freight option, which is where you pick it up at or near you local major airport. I had for years resisted this option as both expensive and a pain to go pick up. Turns out, shipping my three treasure chest packages via air freight was way cheaper than the "treasure chest to your door" option. Picking up my shipment at my local airport was a bit of a pain because no one at my local airport could tell me where to go to pick up an air freight shipment, but that's not on TBS, and once I found where I was going it was super easy. Now that I know where to go, I would absolutely order TBS rock and sand for an air freight pick up without hesitation.

I started my tanks with TBS rock and sand on November 13th with just the rock, sand, and whatever hitchhikers came with. To this day, I am still finding critters. With my rock and sand I also received a bunch of Astraea and Cerith snails, hermits, a Mithrax crab, several porcelain crabs, a brittle star and more. I continue to find things like what I believe to be a Florida grass shrimp and a decorator crab.

By the way, the good ladies at TBS were unbelievably responsive, patient, and helpful with my 1000 or so questions I threw at them before ordering. I'd encourage you to reach out the them with any questions you have, I know they will be extremely helpful.

If you're even a little bit considering rock and sand from the good ladies at TBS, please do not hesitate!

@LiverockRocks - thanks again ladies! Rock on!

EDIT: You can absolutely mix Caribbsea sand with TBS live sand. This was my plan, but TBS sent me so much, I didn’t need the Caribbsea sand after all.

Oh don’t get me wrong, if cost was no issue I would be getting everything from them but with a 137 gallon display tank the price gets up there really quickly haha

 

[Tired]

I wouldn't mix a large amount of TBS sand with a large amount of finer sand. Reasonably sure it'd pack together a bit oddly, since the TBS sand is an assortment of chunks ranging from large grains to bits of broken shell. You'd be fine mixing a relatively small amount of the TBS sand in, though, or you could just get a couple of no-sand-involved 'treasure chest' boxes.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I wouldn't mix a large amount of TBS sand with a large amount of finer sand. Reasonably sure it'd pack together a bit oddly, since the TBS sand is an assortment of chunks ranging from large grains to bits of broken shell. You'd be fine mixing a relatively small amount of the TBS sand in, though, or you could just get a couple of no-sand-involved 'treasure chest' boxes.

Agreed, crushed coral on the bottom tds on top works good.

 

[LiverockRocks Verified Sponsor]

Hi!

I'm no expert and others may certainly offer better advice. I have been out of the reefing game for over a decade, but I recently got back in with two small tanks, a 15 gallon and a 10 gallon. Both were started with Tampa Bay Saltwater aquacultured live rock and sand, and I couldn't be happier with it, and I feel it's well worth the expense. I had been intrigued by TBS rock and sand for years, and though I've been planning a larger tank using dry rock and sand, I thought I'd start my little tanks with the TBS rock/sand, and I'm so glad I did.

I'm not sure if you know this, but TBS does offer small packages of their rock and sand delivered directly to your door, they call them their "treasure chests".

I ended up ordering three of their small treasure chest packages, but I had them shipped by the air freight option, which is where you pick it up at or near you local major airport. I had for years resisted this option as both expensive and a pain to go pick up. Turns out, shipping my three treasure chest packages via air freight was way cheaper than the "treasure chest to your door" option. Picking up my shipment at my local airport was a bit of a pain because no one at my local airport could tell me where to go to pick up an air freight shipment, but that's not on TBS, and once I found where I was going it was super easy. Now that I know where to go, I would absolutely order TBS rock and sand for an air freight pick up without hesitation.

I started my tanks with TBS rock and sand on November 13th with just the rock, sand, and whatever hitchhikers came with. To this day, I am still finding critters. With my rock and sand I also received a bunch of Astraea and Cerith snails, hermits, a Mithrax crab, several porcelain crabs, a brittle star and more. I continue to find things like what I believe to be a Florida grass shrimp and a decorator crab.

By the way, the good ladies at TBS were unbelievably responsive, patient, and helpful with my 1000 or so questions I threw at them before ordering. I'd encourage you to reach out the them with any questions you have, I know they will be extremely helpful.

If you're even a little bit considering rock and sand from the good ladies at TBS, please do not hesitate!

@LiverockRocks - thanks again ladies! Rock on!

EDIT: You can absolutely mix Caribbsea sand with TBS live sand. This was my plan, but TBS sent me so much, I didn’t need the Caribbsea sand after all.

Thanks for the endorsement, TBS customers ROCK!

Planning a waterbox reef 190.5 in the next year. Tbs sand and rock are great but not sure I can spend the amount of money for that to be all I use. Has anyone mixed TBS sand and caribsea special grade reef sand? Just wondering if it’ll look ok or if it will be weird. Thanks in advance!

You can mix TBS sand with special grade or crushed coral. Wouldn’t recommend mixing it with fine sand.

 

[logibear]

Straight from the horses mouth, what more could I ask for?! Looking forward to being a near future customer :-D

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Straight from the horses mouth, what more could I ask for?! Looking forward to being a near future customer :-D

I will tell you TBS is awesome, the service is very personal and you will not be disappointed

 

[logibear]

I will tell you TBS is awesome, the service is very personal and you will not be disappointed

I have heard absolutely nothing but positive things about @LiverockRocks but most importantly the customer service. Thanks for all of your advice! More questions to come for sure lol