substrate choice

[joe&rae]

i am building a 110 high fish only tank! i am wanting to know if crushed coral or a fine grade sand will be better?? what will be easier to maintain and look good!!

 

[ccCapt]

Sand is much better. I personally like the oolitic fine grade aragonite sand.

 

[melosu58]

Sand by far is the better choice. CC will trap debris and waste in it causing high nitrates in the tank. I personally dont like the fine grade sand. I like the medium particle size. Does not blow around as much.

 

[cogburn]

i got pool filter sand from ace hardware... medium sized grains... only $10 a bag... easy to clean and looks awesome. just food for thought... whilst im a freshy and not a salty... it is nice and i really like it... and it does not blow around at all.

 

[Harry Gross]

Definately SAND !! gives option for all kindsa critter introduction possibilities...which makes for an extreamely active little environment (when everybody- hermittcrabbs..goby..snails etc- are up and doing their thing(s) ) As M said a medium grain sand won't create any longterm dust storms either and give the kiddies a nice playground.

 

[joe&rae]

where can i get a good med grade sand, everything i find is too small!!
and i made the mistake of using a fine grade in my reef and it makes a mess if the water moves wrong!!! and pool filter sand still sees to be to small and none of my local hardware stores have any!!

 

[melosu58]

Aragamax Aquarium Sand

This is what I used.

 

[joe&rae]

i have some that is in the bottem of a freshwater tank that i am shutting down do to loss of most of the fish in a recent ice storm how would it effact the cycle time and any other reasons not to use that it is the closest thing that i can find to what im looking for and i cant find it???

 

[melosu58]

I dont know if I would use it again. Not a big fan of reusing sand. I guess if you could get it super clean you might be OK but it will be hard. I always use new sand if I upgrade. You dont have LFS araound. I know Petsmart and Petco have it. JMO

 

[joe&rae]

im on a budget and can pay 25 to 30 $ for a 40lb bag and i need at least 100lb of it!!

 

[Innovator]

I always choose CaribSea products for my aragonite sand. My personal favorite is Super Reef, but you could create a nice mixture between Fiji Pink and Arag-Alive Bimini Pink. If you are budget-challenged you can go the pool-filter sand route as someone mentioned or playsand.