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05-31-2009, 09:25 AM
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#1
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Aquarium Advice Regular
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 98
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Buying live sand vs making live sand
I'm starting to setup my 40g hex and I found a guy that is selling live sand. Would this be a better option vs making it.
Matt
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05-31-2009, 09:36 AM
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#2
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Aquarium Advice Addict
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,330
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Buy enough live sand to seed your tank. Fill the rest with regular aragonite sand to the depth that you want. At least 4" or deeper for a DSB or any depth for a regular sandy bottom. any more then that is a waste of money.
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Happy Reefing,
TC
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05-31-2009, 10:02 AM
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#3
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AA Team Emeritus
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 13,858
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Is he selling live sand from his own tank?
If so ask what kind of meds he's used in that tank.
If he is selling the bags, I would skip it and let the sand cycle with your new tank, it will become "live" that way.
I used 130LBs of dry sand in my 125.
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05-31-2009, 11:52 AM
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#4
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Aquarium Advice Regular
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 98
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Yes he broke down his tank and has 150lbs of figi live sand..
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05-31-2009, 12:24 PM
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#5
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Aquarium Advice FINatic
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: columbus, ohio
Posts: 703
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huh... What do you mean by broke down. Is the sand still in water right now. If he took it out and bagged it that might be alright although I am not sure.
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05-31-2009, 01:11 PM
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#6
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SW REEF 20+ YEARS
Community Admin
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Virginia
Posts: 39,145
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I have a LFS that sells live sand out of a tank in it with just aragonite sand and water. That kind of sand I could say is probably "live" while the bagged sand I would say is not.
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05-31-2009, 02:52 PM
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#7
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Aquarium Advice Regular
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 98
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he has it in buckets and its stored inside with saltwater. and my misstake its Caribbean medium to fine sand. the saltwater is still being filtered. he said had a 150g reef he broke down and sold the tank already. if i buy this sand from him how much do i need for a 40g hex stretch tank? the tank size is 30/18/21 i have been told i need a 1/2 of sand, and i have been told i need 1 1/2 inches and i have been told i need 2 inches.. also the guy i just bought my protein skimmer from gave me about 15lbs of dead coral sand.
thanks Matt
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06-01-2009, 02:08 PM
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#8
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Aquarium Advice Addict
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,330
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The problem with using someone elses sand is you also get someone elses problems. Buy new sand. If it's just for looks 1/2" is fine. If you want a DBS, you'll need 4"-6" of sand. Buy 5# or so of his LS to seed your new sand and let Nature do the rest.
__________________
Happy Reefing,
TC
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06-01-2009, 09:00 PM
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#9
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Aquarium Advice Regular
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 98
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I ended up useing crushed coral. heres a pic of my new tank with some base rock and the crushed coral. waitting on live rock to come..
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06-01-2009, 09:37 PM
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#10
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AA Team Emeritus
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 13,858
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Hmmm, you might not be too happy with the CC a few months down the road. Make sure you keep it clean.
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06-01-2009, 10:50 PM
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#11
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Aquarium Advice Regular
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 98
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I have heard this im thinking about changing it to sand so it stays cleaner. i didnt pay for the CC so i added it tonight. with it being a new tank shouldnt be that hard to extract and seed some sand..
thanks for the reply
Matt
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06-03-2009, 05:08 PM
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#12
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SW REEF 20+ YEARS
Community Admin
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Virginia
Posts: 39,145
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Yes you`ll be able to siphon the CC up in areas and then use a PVC pipe to slide the rinsed out sand down to the cleaned out spot.
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06-03-2009, 05:13 PM
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#13
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Aquarium Advice Regular
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Austin TX
Posts: 98
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thats a great idea!!!
Matt
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