Sand.

[SammiMitch]

Looking at starting my tank. I have no mom and pop lsf in my town. All I have is Walmart petco and petsmart... so I have to order a lot online. I'm trying to pick out a sand bed. I am setting up a 20gal reef. What brand of sand do y'all recommend? And how much?

 

[watdachuck]

I currently used Caribsea in my nano but am going back to crushed coral in the new 160 build. I find the crushed coral has more space for copepods and other detritus eating animals to develop. Sand also blows around a lot easier in high flow tanks. Something to think about depending on the type of tank you are setting up.

 

[Jason mack]

+1 for crushed coral !

 

[Homestead_Dad]

I used Carib sea agrilive fiji pink and bought if from dr foster smith I think. I am happy with it. I filled up my tank with rock in, poured the sand in one pile then pushed it around to spread it out. My tank clouded up pretty bad but in a couple of hours it was crystal clear. Marine depot has dry Fiji pink in 15 bags and a calculator to figure out how much you need per inch of sand bed.

 

[SammiMitch]

Is it possible to mix? Like if I want to do a layer of the crushed coral on the bottom then add pink Fiji sand one top? Best of both worlds? Lol

 

[watdachuck]

There can be benefits to doing that. You should do more research on deep sand beds or DSB's. Many pros and cons and/or additions you might want to add to your clean up crew to help maintain that type of environment.

 

[SammiMitch]

There can be benefits to doing that. You should do more research on deep sand beds or DSB's. Many pros and cons and/or additions you might want to add to your clean up crew to help maintain that type of environment.

I was reading the substrate thread. And it seems like deep sand beds can be deadly, with trapping gas and extra foods. I think I want to do the mix but a shallow sand bed. Like 1" - 1 1/2"

 

[Midrats]

I like Tropic Eden Tonga Reeflakes Grand Select. It's between crushed coral and sand at a 5mm grain size. It's the cleanest, whitest, most uniformly graded sand I've ever used.

 

[SammiMitch]

I like Tropic Eden Tonga Reeflakes Grand Select. It's between crushed coral and sand at a 5mm grain size. It's the cleanest, whitest, most uniformly graded sand I've ever used.

How deep did you make your substrate?

 

[slipknotgrrl83]

I use crushed coral, my goby likes it too, he digs in it all the time. Sand is nice but with strong flow it can blow around alot

 

[CarrieB]

I used this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00025YRQQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Free shipping with Amazon Prime.

 

[Nick92515]

Carib sea, seaflor. Best stuff. Sand is better bought online anyway, usually better prices. I guess were lucky to have like 7 good lfs in my area.

 

[SammiMitch]

Carib sea, seaflor. Best stuff. Sand is better bought online anyway, usually better prices. I guess were lucky to have like 7 good lfs in my area.

well I lived in Oceanside Cali. And had amazing fish stores...then my husband retired and now we live in college station Texas.. where there are none now my next question would be my rocks. They are all dry. By buying live sand will that help my rocks come back to life? Is there anything else I could add to help them? Bacteria in a bottle? I know they have it for fresh bc I've used it.

 

[Midrats]

I did a 1.5" layer. I like and have used Caribsea products extensively over the past 20 years but there is no comparison whatsoever to Tropic Eden. It is hands down the nicest substrate available.