Is the type of sand important?

[litebrite]

I have a new 150 gallon tank extra deep (low and wide) with a few hundred lbs of live rock in a holding tank ready to go. My other tanks have no sand and no nitrates. Will I start to see nitrates with sand? (Thinking the sand will hold the fish poop creating a problem.)

So if sand is good, does it matter all that much what kind? I was thinking coral sand might turn red and green from algae. Black sand basically lava sand from Hawaii. Beach sand from the ocean. Tuffa or honeycomb sand to help ph, and ect... There are so many sands? Do they have sand that won't grow algae or do I want algae? As you can see I am completely lost with sand but feel that this is probably a very important choice so Before I make a mistake I want to ask the experts for advice. Thank you for your help. I am really excited for my first sand tank. Does it matter how much sand too. Thick or thin. Fine or hard, or mixed particle sizes... I really need help. Thank you again!!!

 

[Ziggy953]

Agronite is a good choice for a substrate, its what I use mixed with sugar fine sand. With that said it doesn't matter what kind of sand you use you will see algae as your tank cycles and balances its self out. When I started mine up I got the lovely diatoms and then cyano popped up shortly after. When I got everything in balance no more algae. I don't care what kind of rock, substrate fish no fish coral no coral whatever if you have a balanced system you wont have the algae problems. What that means is correct PH, SG 0 ammonia 0 NitrItes 0 Phosphates 10 or less NitrAtes frequent PWCs good salt mix, RO/DI water and proper feeding along with a good amount of LR and a good working skimmer. Take a leave out of natures book and try to imitate that in your tank and you will do well.

My sand bed in my tank goes from 2" to as deep as 6" in areas. Sand is one of those things that people don't always agree on. It's more of a personal choice.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If you go with a shallow sand bed, then yes... you will see nitrates. And that's what water changes are for. If you have a "deep" sand bed (>6", but this seems debatable), then in theory your nitrates will be very low, depending on your bioload. The oxygen-less areas of the deep sand bed allow for anaerobic bacteria to set up shop, converting your nitrates to nitrogen gas. The shallower sand bed won't allow for these oxygen-less areas.

 

[melosu58]

The key to keeping you sand clean is getting a sand sifter. Weather it`s narsirrus snails or gobies or whatever. I have a bullet goby that turns my sand over constantly. I agree with the aragonite sand.

 

[litebrite]

Agronite sands.
Are there different types of Agronite sands. Or will the bags just be marked Agronite. Ie, shades of white, ect. Can I use a bleached white Agronite?

Fish poop.
How much can I expect to be trapped in a 2" super fine sand bed? Will I have to clean it. I had gravel once and it collected everything and impossible to clean.

With these 2 answers I think I am ready to make my choice. Thank you!!!

 

[Devilishturtles]

I think most aragonite is the same color. I'm unsure about bleached white aragonite. Aragonite itself is pretty white.

I vaccum the top layer of my sand bed and it removes most of the gunk that gets trapped.

HTH

 

[melosu58]

You`ll see bags of Live aragonite sand but IMO the sand cant be still live. I think your best bet would be to just get it dry for alot cheaper and buy some real "live" sand from your LFS out of his tank to seed yours.

 

[fijiwigi]

Are there certain sands that cause algae problems or affect the water quality. I know that aragonite sand is ideal. I am curious about the why behind the choice and the negative impact if you make the wrong choice. Understanding the why behind things helps a great deal??

 

[cmor1701d]

You should start by reading How Sandbeds REALLY Work by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D and follow that up with The Infamous Detritivore

You need a LIVE sand bad that contains a balance of organisms that eat the detritus and stir the sand bed. Those organisms don't really care about the mineral content of the sand, just the particle size. Sugar sized sand is preferred.

 

[litebrite]

I read this article. And it showed me more ways to add life to the sand. At my local beach in Florida I have these little critters about the size of a pea that come in with the waves and quickly burrow 1/8" holes under the sand. Their cute too. I used to catch them by digging up the holes right after a wave in with my hads as a child.

Do you think adding these to my aquarium would be a good idea? I could catch them at the beach.
http://www.fishingthesurf.com/sand fleas.jpg
http://www.sandfleas.info/sand-flea.jpg

 

[cmor1701d]

Being a shoreline creature I would not add them to a marine tank. Do you know what they really are (scientific name)? How big they get? What their diet consists of?

 

[melosu58]

And are they reef safe !!

 

[litebrite]

Very little information is posted. I just read that they are crabs and are fine towards fish, no idea about reef safe. They only go up to a max of 2" and I have never seen them over 1".

I have a question about thickness of sand bed. How thin can I get away with and still have nitrate reduction? 2", 3", 4" 5" ect. I understand the more the better, but I want as much tank room as possible. I understand that too shallow is bad. I would not exceed 5" but would like to us less if possible. Thanks

 

[cmor1701d]

SSB is under 3". A DSB is over 4". There are other ways to reduce nitrates. Macro algea in sump or fuge is a great way to do it.

 

[litebrite]

Thank you. I will go with 4" then. I didn't want to add nitrates to a tank that currently never shows nitrates. I head that nitrates can show up with shallow beds. I didn't know the line between shallow and deep. Thanks for the info.

 

[cmor1701d]

If you have no nitrates then a SSB should not be the cause of nitrates. It will be colonized by aerobic bacteria.

 

[litebrite]

I bought some aragonite sand yesterday. I noticed that it had a high level of listed trace minerals such as Strontium and stuff. Is this good or should I mix it 50/50% with inert sand so I don't build up too many minterals in the water.
I am doing a deep sand bed, should I go with 100% aragonite still with the high levels of Strontium? Excessive Strontium sounds toxic?

 

[cmor1701d]

Mixing with playsand will reduce the cost. The aragonite most likely has the same proportion of trace minerals as NSW as it is mined off the Bahmas coast. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[litebrite]

Is $0.50 cents per pound of coral / aragonite sand a good price?

 

[litebrite]

Ok. I got my sand. I am putting the sand in 5 gal buckets with holes in the bottom with a fine mesh and getting ready to cycle the sand. I put the 5 gal buckets in a larger bin using a pump to circulate saltwater in to the buckets to filter through the sand, adding Stability bacteria in to the water and try to cycle my sand. Just like starting a wet dry filter. Never tried this but figre it couldn't hurt and it will clean the sand too. I want my new tank to be fully cycled right when I add water!

Hehe. 5 gallons of sand does not let the water flow through. Needed to reduce the amount of sand in each bucket. Slow flowing but straining through.