Substrate for coral

[smaz]

I have setup my aquarium with pool filter sand. It's been running for about an year now.
I am planning to have some LPS. Just wondering if I have to replace the sand with reef sand or I can put some additives and keep using the same sand. I have a gsp which seems happy but it's not growing as fast as it should.

 

[F i s h y]

I have no experience with pool sand. But in my reefs I use argonite sand exclusively. I would do a Google search to figure out what the composition of your sand is and if its a good long term substrate.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Hi! IME, corals (especially those you’re wanting to keep) do great on reef sand, barebottom, or rubble. Not sure about pool sand

 

[ichthyogeek]

PFS is mostly silica sand (SiO2). It most likely won't cause diatom blooms (the Si is locked away).

Aragonite/reef sand and oolite is mostly calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It's good at keeping the water buffered (which is why people recommend using it over PFS).

In theory, as long as there aren't things like pesticides in the sand bed, you could probably have success with keeping corals. Since the GSP isn't dead, I'd say that there probably isn't anything deadly to corals in the tank in terms of chemicals. You'll probably need to keep a closer eye on the calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity than you would if you had aragonite sand. But other than that, same particle size, etc.

What LPS are you planning on keeping? If it's a faster growing variety (Micromussa comes to mind), then you'll need to be rather vigilant about it. Slower growing ones (like Scolymias/Homophyllias) will still need watching, but probably won't drastically drop your calcium and alkalinity levels overnight.

 

[smaz]

PFS is mostly silica sand (SiO2). It most likely won't cause diatom blooms (the Si is locked away).

Aragonite/reef sand and oolite is mostly calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It's good at keeping the water buffered (which is why people recommend using it over PFS).

In theory, as long as there aren't things like pesticides in the sand bed, you could probably have success with keeping corals. Since the GSP isn't dead, I'd say that there probably isn't anything deadly to corals in the tank in terms of chemicals. You'll probably need to keep a closer eye on the calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity than you would if you had aragonite sand. But other than that, same particle size, etc.

What LPS are you planning on keeping? If it's a faster growing variety (Micromussa comes to mind), then you'll need to be rather vigilant about it. Slower growing ones (like Scolymias/Homophyllias) will still need watching, but probably won't drastically drop your calcium and alkalinity levels overnight.

I honestly don't know much about corals. The reason I am going for LPS is because Mr. Google says it's easier to take care of , so I will go for the ones which don't cost much at the LFS.
Do you think it will be ok to put some live reef sand over the existing sand bed? Or if I try to replace the sand with live reef sand will there still be a need to let it run for a few days before I put the fishes back in (if they can survive in a bucket during this period). I have 29G with 3 clowns

 

[ichthyogeek]

Oh dear....do you have calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium test kits? There's nothing wrong with the whole "I want that one and that one" mentality with picking corals, just as long as you have a base knowledge of the coral (Tubastreas need to be fed, Gonioporas have historically suffered in aquaria, etc.), and I want to make sure you can succeed.

I can't say that I've tried putting live reef sand over an existing sand bed. So I don't think I can comment on that.

If you replace your sand bed, you'll need to do it all at once. Do you have live rock or some other form of biofiltration? At this point, the sandbed has a lot of nitrifying bacteria, so removing it might affect your cycle.

 

[spiraling]

I doubt it would do much good to add reef sand over the top. There are plenty of bare bottom tanks that don't have the buffering capabilities of any sand and they do fine. If you aren't having issues with your pool sand its probably fine. I've used in in freshwater tanks several times. It does have a courser stucture, like little cubes, that aren't as good for sand dwelling creatures like gobies.

If you replace your sand bed, you'll need to do it all at once. Do you have live rock or some other form of biofiltration? At this point, the sandbed has a lot of nitrifying bacteria, so removing it might affect your cycle.

I'm curious why all at once? If it has a lot of the nitrifying bacteria it seems like doing a bit at a time so more bacteria can grow on the rocks and balance out would be better? With the new sand they can add microbacter or other bacteria to increase the nitrifying bacteria that was lost.

 

[smaz]

Oh dear....do you have calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium test kits? There's nothing wrong with the whole "I want that one and that one" mentality with picking corals, just as long as you have a base knowledge of the coral (Tubastreas need to be fed, Gonioporas have historically suffered in aquaria, etc.), and I want to make sure you can succeed.

I can't say that I've tried putting live reef sand over an existing sand bed. So I don't think I can comment on that.

If you replace your sand bed, you'll need to do it all at once. Do you have live rock or some other form of biofiltration? At this point, the sandbed has a lot of nitrifying bacteria, so removing it might affect your cycle.

Sorry for the late response. I don't have magnesium test kit but my KH is 214.9,
CA 480 and PH 7.8. do these look right? Should I get magnesium kit?
Indo have live rocks and an HOB filter with some media too.
I feed my gsp Reef roids once a week. I also bought Reef energy AB+ which I haven't started using yet. I really don't wanna replace my sand unless it's a must. Do you think reef energy ab+ will provide enough nutrition to the corals that if there is any deficiency due to the sand, it will be covered?
Thanks

 

[ichthyogeek]

I doubt it would do much good to add reef sand over the top. There are plenty of bare bottom tanks that don't have the buffering capabilities of any sand and they do fine. If you aren't having issues with your pool sand its probably fine. I've used in in freshwater tanks several times. It does have a courser stucture, like little cubes, that aren't as good for sand dwelling creatures like gobies.

I'm curious why all at once? If it has a lot of the nitrifying bacteria it seems like doing a bit at a time so more bacteria can grow on the rocks and balance out would be better? With the new sand they can add microbacter or other bacteria to increase the nitrifying bacteria that was lost.

From what I understand of the current trend, replacing the sand bit by bit just suspends detritus into the water column, and helps with causing algae blooms/problems in the tank. When you remove all the sand at once, you're removing it + the detritus locked into the sandbed.

OP, I haven't worked with corals in a while. Somebody else will probably be able to help you a lot more with this.