Quantity and type of sand

[oO BRIGHTY Oo]

Hi guys, brand new here so forgive my freshness and I may be asking some really obvious questions but anyway, I digress!!

I have recently purchased a 260 litre 1.2m and I'm setting up hopefully a FOWLR (think that is the correct term!) one of my first steps is getting my substrate, so I was wondering what type and what quantity of sand would be best!

Thanks guys!

 

[jsmith]

Hi guys, brand new here so forgive my freshness and I may be asking some really obvious questions but anyway, I digress!!

I have recently purchased a 260 litre 1.2m and I'm setting up hopefully a FOWLR (think that is the correct term!) one of my first steps is getting my substrate, so I was wondering what type and what quantity of sand would be best!

Thanks guys!

Any sand will do.. im starting a 125 gallon here shortly im going to be using pool filter sand... you could also do play sand... I just like the grit of pool sand more.. just make sure you rince it well....

 

[jsmith]

As far as how much... a good 3 inch depth will be fine if your going for a deep sand bed more then 6 will do..

 

[oO BRIGHTY Oo]

Ok that's great thanks jsmith, me and my wife was going to go for a tropical tank but on our recent honeymoon to the Maldives, we couldn't resist the allure of a marine setup! We have decided that we are going to go for a slightly different look in regards to decor in our tank but there will still be LR, we will be posting pictures as soon as we get it up and running!

 

[jsmith]

Ok that's great thanks jsmith, me and my wife was going to go for a tropical tank but on our recent honeymoon to the Maldives, we couldn't resist the allure of a marine setup! We have decided that we are going to go for a slightly different look in regards to decor in our tank but there will still be LR, we will be posting pictures as soon as we get it up and running!

If you go ahead and start a build thread you can get help all along the way

 

[Ibrahim]

Oh and go with 5lbs of live rock and 25 lbs of baserock as you'll save money and base rock will become live anyway.

 

[oO BRIGHTY Oo]

Ok that sounds like a cheaper alternative, we want some skunk cleaner shrimp, would they be the best thing to start off with in the tank?!

 

[jsmith]

Ok that sounds like a cheaper alternative, we want some skunk cleaner shrimp, would they be the best thing to start off with in the tank?!

To cycle? Or after your finished cycling?

 

[oO BRIGHTY Oo]

After we finished cycling, we want to get the tank optimised as best we can first, what fish could you best recommend first?! Would it be a good idea to have the shrimp in the tank before the first fish or after?

 

[Ibrahim]

Add the least aggressive fish first. Fish you can get are clowns, gobies, blennies, and cardinal fish. You can also add a couple shrimp and a few crabs and snails as a clean up crew. As for a good list of fish I'd get for a 20 are
1 Goby
1 Cardinal
2 Occelaris Clowns
1 Blenny
1 Sally Lightfoot Crab or Emerald Crab
1 Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp
and about 10 Hermit crabs 5 Nassarius and 5 Nerite Snails. That's basically it. This might even be on the slight side of overstocking. And I'm sure these fish and invertebrates are under 120 if you order online.