Marco Rocks Sand

[Ryan S]

http://www.marcorocks.com/sand.aspx

 

I am wondering if the coarse sand is as yellow in person as it appears on the website?

 

I am trying to find a bright white coarse sand? Any suggestions?

[Jan]

I've got a bucket full of bright white with some gray course substrate. It's a mixture of shells, crushed coral and small rocks. I think it looks pretty.

 

http://www.marcorocks.com/sand.aspx

 

I am wondering if the coarse sand is as yellow in person as it appears on the website?

 

I am trying to find a bright white coarse sand? Any suggestions?

[tomtom2245]

I have their fine sand in my tank and it doesn't look yellow at all. Not sure how it would compare to the coarse though.

[Ryan S]

I went straight to the source himself:

 

Hi Ryan,

No that really is a bad pic, it is actually very white but I wouldn't call it "bright white"

 

Thanks

Marc

 

Now I need to figure out how much sand I need!

[hypertech]

I was sooooo not happy with Marco sand. The rocks are great. I will never buy sand from him again.

 

For the good: it is very white and looks nice. Now, the rest.

 

First, 40 pounds is not 40 pounds. He takes a flat rate box and fills it up. He really should sell it by volume not weight as that is how he delivers it. This works out to be a little more than 30 pounds. On my order of 80 pounds, I was missing 16 pounds and I had to complain on his reef central forum before I finally got a response and my missing sand.

 

Next, the sand was so very fine, it just wasn't workable in anything but a low flow fuge. I understand that he has a different or second sand product now, but the fact that the stuff he was/is selling is so inappropriate for a reef tank, I won't trust his opinion on any sand product.

[Ryan S]

I was sooooo not happy with Marco sand. The rocks are great. I will never buy sand from him again.

 

For the good: it is very white and looks nice. Now, the rest.

 

First, 40 pounds is not 40 pounds. He takes a flat rate box and fills it up. He really should sell it by volume not weight as that is how he delivers it. This works out to be a little more than 30 pounds. On my order of 80 pounds, I was missing 16 pounds and I had to complain on his reef central forum before I finally got a response and my missing sand.

 

Next, the sand was so very fine, it just wasn't workable in anything but a low flow fuge. I understand that he has a different or second sand product now, but the fact that the stuff he was/is selling is so inappropriate for a reef tank, I won't trust his opinion on any sand product.

 

I very much appreciate your response. I am going to hold off on the sand for the time being. I need to research his coarse sand more before pulling the trigger. I would not be happy if 40lbs was really 30lbs.

[Ryan S]

I've got a bucket full of bright white with some gray course substrate. It's a mixture of shells, crushed coral and small rocks. I think it looks pretty.

 

Thanks Jan, but I'm pretty set on a non-mix coarse white sand bed (though, how long will it stay unmixed in the end?)

 

I am going to start hitting up the LFS in the area and see if they have any sand by the # in stock, and maybe go that route. Especially if marco's sand is questionable.

 

I've been dying to see what all the fuss is about with respect to some of our LFS like Fins and Feathers and BRK.

[matt bills]

I bought some good sand out of Sean sps tank when he was doing a sand change which worked great. Sean is awsome.

 

 

[Ryan S]

CaribSea

[hypertech]

I have and its nice. It is pretty fine though. If you are thinking a high flow/SPS type tank, I'd step up to the select grade. Its basically the same nice white sand as in your link with a slightly larger particle size. The select grade is still "fine" by many people's standard.

Edited December 27, 2011 by hypertech

[Ryan S]

Thanks hypertech.

 

Does anyone else have experience with CaribSea

[Big Country]

Here's a website that gives you the specs on the caribsea sands http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/dry_aragonite.html I used their sugar sized sand one time and just blew around too much in my tank. I like their seaflor special grade reef sand in all my tanks, it's big enough to not blow around constantly, it does still move around some in my tank though, and it doesn't bother my gobies, wrasses or snails that dig and burrow.

 

I'd heard in the past that the marco sand just created sandstorms but I haven't looked lately to see if they have a coarser sand now. I have a bookmark somewhere for a sandbed calculator that you put in the footprint of the tank and depth of sand you want and it tells you how many pounds you need, has been pretty accurate in my usage. If you want the link PM me and I'll send it to you since it's at home

Edited December 29, 2011 by Big Country

[Ryan S]

Thanks Charles for the link. Very helpful. I am definitely liking the Special Grade Reef Sand, because it's big, but not too big. Only question I have now, is if I plan on getting a goby, would this larger sand be okay for them? One of the reviewers of the smallest sand here, stated you'd need the smallest sand and not the Special Grade for a goby. I've never had a sand sifting goby before, so I don't know if that's accurate? I was planning on getting a pistol shrimp/watchman goby pair... I could go with the sand that is sized right in the middle of the 2 or something?

Edited December 29, 2011 by Ryan S

[John]

I use CaribSea

[Big Country]

Thanks Charles for the link. Very helpful. I am definitely liking the Special Grade Reef Sand, because it's big, but not too big. Only question I have now, is if I plan on getting a goby, would this larger sand be okay for them? One of the reviewers of the smallest sand here, stated you'd need the smallest sand and not the Special Grade for a goby. I've never had a sand sifting goby before, so I don't know if that's accurate? I was planning on getting a pistol shrimp/watchman goby pair... I could go with the sand that is sized right in the middle of the 2 or something?

 

I've got two of the diamond gobies and they sift and move ton's of sand in my tank, of course they are larger gobies. With a smaller goby like a yellow or green goby, that I typically see paired with pistol shrip, I just don't know if you might do better with the select grade. I would probably call John at BRK and ask because he has the goby/shrimp pairs in his tanks all the time and could tell you how coarse his sand is and whether the smaller gobies have a problem sifting it or if they sift it.

[Big Country]

Not sure how many bags of sand you need but did you see those shipping charges? I think when I sat up my 180 I bought four special grade 50# bags for $40 ea from the LFS so you might check availability and price with some of the stores before you order, you might actually get it cheaper locally rather than paying shipping.

[Names Bruce]

Not to beat a dead horse but the Marco rocks sands left me very unhappy. I purchased enough for my 180 of the course sand and was not pleased. The gradation on it is horrible. It is a mixture of either too large grain (1/4") to way too fine. I would never do it again.

[wvreef]

I used the carbsea when I set up my 180....it is awsome sand....love it when you get it make sure u get the bacteria pack with the sand as it reduces the time of your cycle....my 180 was cycled in under a week.....this is the only sand i will use for any of my new setups