Substrate for 120 gallon tank

[Everett Adams]

Was wandering
How many pounds and what kind of substrate the pros would recommend?

Too bad i cant find yardright tropical play sand anywhere :-(

 

[rdnelson99]

Have heard a lot of people say not to buy Live Sand. Makes sense to me because I doubt anything could live in a sealed bag for months on end. Some have bought play sand from Home Depot or Lowes and just washed it very well before using it. Next time I am in need, I think I will give that a try.

 

[Everett Adams]

Diescthe sand from home depot just need to be silica free??

 

[carey]

I used pool filter sand in my 125g. I went with a deep sand bed so I used 250lbs of sand. Not sure if my sand was silica free or not...It was about $5 per 50lbs though. You can also try a pool supply store for it if your local home depot doesnt have it.

I think you would need about 150lb of sand or so for a regular depth sandbed.

Hope that helps....

 

[Everett Adams]

Awesome thanks Carey i just really didnt want to spend an arm and leg on sand. Any idea what kind of brand you use?

 

[Everett Adams]

How does this look http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...zVoice-_-RLP-_-100555293-_-x&locStoreNum=6532

 

[carey]

I totally forgot what brand or kind I used, it was a few months ago, I'd have to research through my build thread to find it. lol

the sand you linked is for sure silica sand, not sure if that will matter or not. Some people say you get more algae from high silica levels. the sand I got didn't say if it was silica free or not but i did test the water after putting it on and the test came back at 0.

If you do use the pool filter sand I HIGHLY suggest you rinse the heck out of it. It took me hours to rinse my sand til the water ran clear but I saved like $250 so it was worth the time for me.

I'll try to find the post in my thread and post the pictures of the bags if I can.

 

[Everett Adams]

Thank you so much Carey ill def wash the tar out of the sand

 

[carey]

I just searched through 80 some odd pages of my build thread and for the life of me can't find a picture of the PFS that i used. Sorry about that, I tried. LOL

 

[Everett Adams]

Its ok im kinda liking this one Crystal Sand 50 lb. Pool Filter Sand

 

[rdnelson99]

Diescthe sand from home depot just need to be silica free??

On another site I found that I gave you bad info. :-( The sand from HD does have silicates.

 

[Everett Adams]

Ive now read it doesnt matter if the sand has silicates..... Ugggggg

 

[melosu58]

I would suggest aragonite sand.

 

[Greenturtle]

+1 on aragonite. I have it for my 90 gallon reef and I love it. I will get a 40 pound bag of it for my new 29 Biocube.