Seachem Substrates?

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Well, I have given away all my FW fish, removed all the plants, drained and cleaned my 120Gal (4x2x2) that I had drilled last year. Been reading as much as I can and I'm pretty sure I have most of the answers I need about most equipment except..

I did a search here and found little to no answers about Seachem substrates. (the ones I found had links to pictures on the old forum)

Does anyone use any of them? any issues worth noting? (problems with sifters etc..)

I know a lot of this is opinion, but that is what I'm looking for

Oh, since I'll be putting a fair weight of LR in there, would it be best to put some eggcrate down first, then put the substrate on it?

 

[roka64]

Here is the Seachem Website http://www.seachem.com/products/gravels.html you can take a look. I use Aragamax Sand http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+10741+7321&pcatid=7321.
The issues with sifters are if the sand granuals are too big or are too sharp for them to sift. I used to have crushed coral and sand in my tank and ended up removing the coral, and replacing with sand.
As for the egg crate on the bottom, I wouldn't use that. Make sure you firmly place the rock on the tank's bottom glass, to keep the rock from moving or shifting. I also use the zip ties to hold pieces together, just make sure you use the ties that have the plastic and not metal "zips".

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Thanks for the reply, I had already looked at Seachem's site, but sadly it didn't have any personal experiences with it. However it looks like that is the most cost effective substrate for me so that is what I will be going with, Guess in 6 months to a year I'll give an opinion of it, tho spec wise, it looks very similar to aragamax.

My concern with the rock is pressure points, applying 40 pounds to a pinpoint can shatter glass, using egg crate I was hoping to dissipate any pressure points. Perhaps I'll just use a thin sheet of plastic on the bottom then? I don't want all that rock resting on glass. I won't sleep at night, so what are realistic methods to ensure the rock doesn't shift AND the rock isn't applying pressure directly to the glass. (I will be adding ~130 - 180lbs of rock to start)

 

[roka64]

I have 150 LBS of base rock in my 125 and no problems. The bottom of the tank have thicker glass, since the need to support all the weight. One sure way to rest it on the bottom is to place the rock then add water and then the sand. I found when I added the sand first (I rinsed each 30Lbs bag 6 times of 240LBS of sand) and placed it in the tank and then added water, I had tons of air pockets and had a hack of a time getting them out, not to mention, it stirred up the sand again, but a PWC helped to suck out the smaller, free floating sand particles.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

My concern with the rock is pressure points, applying 40 pounds to a pinpoint can shatter glass, using egg crate I was hoping to dissipate any pressure points. Perhaps I'll just use a thin sheet of plastic on the bottom then? I don't want all that rock resting on glass. I won't sleep at night, so what are realistic methods to ensure the rock doesn't shift AND the rock isn't applying pressure directly to the glass. (I will be adding ~130 - 180lbs of rock to start)

Pressure points aren't a problem. Like roka, I have 70 lbs or so of rock in my 46g right on the bottom glass. No issues. The bottoms are not only thicker, but tempered also. I placed the rock, filled with water, then put the sand in place. While the eggcrate would spread out the load a little, depending on the thickness of the eggcrate, I can see where that would make putting sand in kind of a pain.

 

[roka64]

"tempered" that's the word I couldn't remember...lol...thanks!

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I realize it's tempered (that would be the reason I had the back of my tank drilled). I was only worried about point pressure, but if it isn't an issue then I guess I won't worry about it. I'm probably worrying over nothing..

 

[roka64]

Just don't jam the rock in there, but you probably already figured that out. Add the rock first, then some water and gently pour in the sand (you can always blow the rocks off with a turkey baster, your hands or phs). You will definitely want to rinse the sand out to get the tiny particles out as best as possible, depending on your substrate, otherwise the smaller pieces can clog equipment.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I assume it would be safe to put 3/4 of the water in the tank first, then add rock (it can overflow into the sump if it gets to that point). The thought of mixing 100Gal in pails frightens me. I was also going to add floss to the sump to help clear up any cloudiness. (I heard even after rinsing most argonite based sand, it will still could)

The powerheads in the tank are Hydor Koralias. They don't look like they would be affected by any dust, but I could be wrong. I feel new all over again.

 

[roka64]

Trust me, no matter how many times you rinse, you will never get all the small particles out, just try to get some out.
You will be surprised at how much those Koralias will actually move around sand. They have a very broad cone shaped flow, awesome phs though. I would say they definitely need to be cleaned on a regular basis. I have noticed mine will stop running if I neglect them. I would say at least once a month, take them out and clean them.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Must be something to do with the low power, I think they all take less then 10w. Do the nozzles help with the direction? my tank is 2' high, so it would have to move down 18" before it hits the sand, hopefully it will at least lessen the stirring effect on the sand.