Sand/Crushed coral question

[fo8squad]

have a 40 gallon tank with about 40 pounds of crushed coral. My nitrates have been really high, like around 80. I cant get it down, even with water changes, and its hard for me to vaccum the crushed coral without moving my live rock, so it is a hassle. I was gonna switch to a deep sand bed. I bought 40 pounds of CaribSea argonite sand and was planning on getting a 20 pound bag of live sand. I noticed that the Caribsea sand is the about the the same size as my crushed coral. Is that a problem? Is CaribSea a good sand to use? If it is the same size, i dont see the effect it will have versus crushed coral, since waste will get trapt in it as well. Please any help would be appreciated, i will change it out once i find out if this is ok to use.

 

[saltcreep1025]

if its the same size i would return it and get something different. The sand should be about sugar sized.

 

[jackdp]

You can buy sand in different sizes, for a DSB to be effective you want sand that is oolitic or sugar sized, most brands, Caribsea included lists the grain size on the packaging.

 

[Guest]

Yes I agree. A DSB should be comprised of sugar sized particles... Carribsea Aragonite should be what you want... It is the equivalent of Old Castle or Southdown Yardright...

 

[Guest]

I meant to say CarribSea aragamax. It is different from the Special Reef sand, and or the SeaFloor grade... There are also Pink Flamingo Reef, and what not... The CarribSea Aragamax comes in a bag that looks like this:

 

[fo8squad]

I got a 40 pound bag of seafloor special grade reef sand for $34. Are the other kinds around the same price? Would the bigger grains have no biological effect? If not i will return it.

 

[saltcreep1025]

i dont know it it would have absolutely no effect, but for DSB filtration you will definetly need smaller grains.