brcolli2 February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I am about to replace my sand bed, and wanted to see what substrate people recommend. I am leaning towards CaribSea dry aragonite special grade reef sand, at a depth of 1-2". Is this a good sand? Is there something out there that people feel is a better product? Also, do any of the vendors have this in stock? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I gave up on trying to figure out what may be "best" a long time ago and started using what I liked visually instead. I went with black sand while I was in San Diego and loved how everything really popped next to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crob5965 February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I like the finer looking sand personally but if and when I do it again I would probably go BB or literally just enough to cover the glass, I did BB on my Biocube and loved it except for the clicking sound of my CuC running on the bottom of the glass, I had no idea crabs could be so noisy. I dont think it really matters what sand you pick, as long as you're happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 I use a mix of Home Depot sand and some large-sized crushed coral. I like the look and at ~$5 for 50 lbs it leaves more money for corals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueTricia February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 So Jason I've seen your tank and it's beautiful. .... but what I read online talked about the possibility of heavy silicate in same from HD. What kind did you get? Any silicate trouble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 (edited) I got the pavestone high desert play sand. No issues whatsoever with silicate. I am skeptical of the doom and gloom claims i read about using HD sand in a reef tank. I have 150# of it in my system and see no ill effects. I just couldn't stomach how much money i would have dropped to buy "aquarium sand." And since I am dosing, any benefit to aragonite dissolving is moot. Saving and using the HD sand made sense for me. Edited February 22, 2015 by Jason Rhoads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDRDATA February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I like the finer looking sand personally but if and when I do it again I would probably go BB or literally just enough to cover the glass, I did BB on my Biocube and loved it except for the clicking sound of my CuC running on the bottom of the glass, I had no idea crabs could be so noisy. I dont think it really matters what sand you pick, as long as you're happy with it. I remember awhile back some discussion (perhaps Jimlin?) of some kind of thin, solid substrate with sand in a matrix (clear epoxy?) that gives the look of a sandbed without the concurrent potential issues. If I were re-doing a tank, I'd probably go bare-bottom or something like I just described, UNLESS I wanted to have fish that require a sandbed (jawfish, some wrasses, etc). Just a thought - no noisy crabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I remember awhile back some discussion (perhaps Jimlin?) of some kind of thin, solid substrate with sand in a matrix (clear epoxy?) that gives the look of a sandbed without the concurrent potential issues. If I were re-doing a tank, I'd probably go bare-bottom or something like I just described, UNLESS I wanted to have fish that require a sandbed (jawfish, some wrasses, etc). Just a thought - no noisy crabs. I remember this too. Was it sand glued to starboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDRDATA February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I remember this too. Was it sand glued to starboard? More or less ... I did some searching and found the thread that discusses this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crob5965 February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 So Jason I've seen your tank and it's beautiful. .... but what I read online talked about the possibility of heavy silicate in same from HD. What kind did you get? Any silicate trouble? I think I used pool filter sand because it's really white looking and mixed it with some live sand, I forget the brand but it was from petco, never had any issues other than wishing I hadnt used any at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crob5965 February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I remember awhile back some discussion (perhaps Jimlin?) of some kind of thin, solid substrate with sand in a matrix (clear epoxy?) that gives the look of a sandbed without the concurrent potential issues. If I were re-doing a tank, I'd probably go bare-bottom or something like I just described, UNLESS I wanted to have fish that require a sandbed (jawfish, some wrasses, etc). Just a thought - no noisy crabs. Who knew crabs liked to tap dance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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