question about sand size in mm...

[guitarded]

what is the recommended sand size in mm? if different sizes serves different purposes, please state what the reasons are for those particular sizes.

 

[guitarded]

bump

 

[malkore]

I don't know the mm size, but you want sugar granuale size'd sand...not too course, but not powder either.
If it's too coarse, it'll be a detris trap like CC, and could be a bit too rough on sand sifting fish/inverts.
too powdery and it'll compact too much, and will just be too light and fluffy...you could have clouding issues.

Here, I was able to find this on a site: Aragamax Sugar-Sized Sand: 0.2 - 1.2mm diameter grain size.

 

[guitarded]

when buying live sand, is it usually the same size as the aragamax sugar-sized sand. the reason i am asking is if the live sand is courser than the aragamax then it wouldn't be uniformed and the live sand will eventually migrate to the bottom.

sorry for the wierd newbie questions.

 

[malkore]

dunno, I see no reason to buy live sand if you're going to use live rock. Live rock makes the sand live after a few months..why pay double price for live sand? its not necessary.

 

[Heineken]

You should take malkore's advice. I thought the same thing, buy aragamax sand, then buy live sand to "seed" it. But if you do get lots of live rock you can save a lot of $$ buy sticking to the non-live sand.

I would suggest "borrowing" a few cups or more of live sand from a trusted/established tank to seed your non-live sand. Some of the live sand that you buy pre-packaged only contains the beneficial bacteria and none of the beneficial worms and such. My LFS is gonna give me a few cups from their tank.

And one last thing. If you do decide to buy the live sand to seed the aragamax sand, I don't think it really is an issue if it migrates to the bottom. First off, if you put the live sand as the top layer, I don't think it will find it's way to the bottom for at least a few weeks or even a month or so. By then, most of your non-live sand will become live sand. If you are worried about aesthetics, I don't think you'll be able to distinguish which sand is which or even be able to distinguish a barrier between the to different sizes.

Although I am a begginer, I have done months of planning and asking questions. Experts please feel free to critique. I'm just passing along some advice that others have told me.

HTH!

 

[guitarded]

thanks, i appreciate all the advice. based on your replies i have decided to just get aragamax and let the live rock seed it.

 

[Heineken]

I know a good site to get the aragamax at a good price. pm if you didn't already order it.

 

[guitarded]

heineken,

i haven't ordered yet so i would be very interested in the site. i would like to place an order tomorrow.

 

[guitarded]

oh, sorry... i see that you requested pm. i will pm you now.

 

[Heineken]

I sent you the link. Check both of them, I added his email address in the second pm. I emailed him first before ordering my aragamax and he gave me a better quote than his website. Maybe he'll do the same for you.

 

[guitarded]

got you pm and i will give him a call first as you suggested. big thanks!

 

[Heineken]

Glad I could help. Just doing what others here have already done for me.