"Live" Sand

Gprime

Feeder Fish
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Sep 2, 2008
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Yes, i am going with live sand.

Need to know how much of it I will need for my 120g. I plan on doing a 4" sand bed, my tank measure 60" long by 18" wide/deep so itd be 60x18x4. I'm thinking around 160 pounds? I could be way off or right on the nose. I will need more in the end for my 6" deep sand bed in my refugium but i have yet to know how big i will be doing the refugium. i have a sump I'm making out of a 75gallon tank. thinking itll be 4 chambers, first is overflow then skimmer/reactors, then refugium, lastly return.

But anyways yeah i need alot of sand, and what kind of sand will i need? i heard it was bad to go over 2" with sugar fine sand so i was thinking Caribsea Aragamax Select.
 

water_baby83

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Jan 30, 2006
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Any particular reason you want it that deep?? The deeper you go, the more it's going to need to be aerated or anaerobic bacteria will take over and you'll have a toxic catastrophe waitin' to happen. You plannin on any sifters/diggers? You'll need something to continually turn that sand, otherwise I'd stick with 2-3inches max, and still make sure you're aggitating it fairly often. With the Caribsea - are you talking about the oolitic aragamax? If so, yes it's a good sand, but it's meant for shallower beds. If you've got your heart set on 4" then yes, go with he 170-190lbs, but honestly, unless you're stocking for that bed-depth, you'd really be better off with 130-145lbs. IMO.
 

mr.reef24

Fire Eel
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Apr 21, 2009
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well you don't need to really waste money on carib-alive sand and 4 to 6 inches is great if your doing a reef. your sand will become live if you use live rock and let the tank be for a month or so, so you can allow your micro-fauna to multiply and breed and inhabit the sand. I just would buy bulk dry sand and get some sugar sized and a little bit bigger sized and mix it around do about 120 pounds and see how deep you are then go from that.

mr.reef24
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
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+1 to everything both baby and reef said...thank god I dont have to say it anymore. Welcome back mods! :D
 

scalesandfins

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Apr 22, 2010
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lol i knew fleshy would be all in on this
really the live sand wont make a diff. everythin thats in it in the bag will prob die. i just added dry sand to my tank and now its great. all sorts of stuff in it. i also have 2 tiger nasarius snails to churn it around and a dragon goby. but mine is only about 3 in sand bed
hope i helped
 

Gprime

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 2, 2008
306
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Ottawa
water_baby83;4544006; said:
Any particular reason you want it that deep?? The deeper you go, the more it's going to need to be aerated or anaerobic bacteria will take over and you'll have a toxic catastrophe waitin' to happen. You plannin on any sifters/diggers? You'll need something to continually turn that sand, otherwise I'd stick with 2-3inches max, and still make sure you're aggitating it fairly often. With the Caribsea - are you talking about the oolitic aragamax? If so, yes it's a good sand, but it's meant for shallower beds. If you've got your heart set on 4" then yes, go with he 170-190lbs, but honestly, unless you're stocking for that bed-depth, you'd really be better off with 130-145lbs. IMO.
I plan on having nassarius snails but as too how many I don't know. Since they are predators I don't want to much as to kill off any life in the sand bed. I think around 10-15 should suffice. I also plan on getting a sand sifting starfish. Other then those 2 things I don't really know what else there would be for specific inverts that are sifters/diggers. The sand im planning on getting is 0.5 - 1.5 mm in grain size, it doesn't say oolictic though

mr.reef24;4544516; said:
well you don't need to really waste money on carib-alive sand and 4 to 6 inches is great if your doing a reef. your sand will become live if you use live rock and let the tank be for a month or so, so you can allow your micro-fauna to multiply and breed and inhabit the sand. I just would buy bulk dry sand and get some sugar sized and a little bit bigger sized and mix it around do about 120 pounds and see how deep you are then go from that.

mr.reef24
Yes I plan on doing a mixed reef (SPS/LPS/Softies etc...). I was going to do Mostly dead rock (because its a lot cheaper) with pieces of live rock mixed throughout. Or i could do half and half since the live rock will be curing throughout the cycle period. I don't know if Big Al's near my place has dry sand for reef aquariums but I can check it out, and just use the live sand in my current tank so help seed the dry sand. The sand I was looking at that they carry is about $20 for a 30lb bag.
 

Heathd

Fire Eel
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Mar 9, 2010
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Gprime...
I have a little less then 4inches in my 75 gallon tank, which has a foot print of 48x18, and used 160lbs. So unless my math is funny, you would need about 200lbs to have the same depth that I have.

Marina fauna will help turn the sand and will populate in time, and bristle worms work pretty well. I have nausarrus snails in my tank, and I have yet to see them do anything other then burrow and just chill. The only time I see them out is when I am feeding the tank, which is presumably the only time they eat.
 

Gprime

Feeder Fish
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Sep 2, 2008
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Ottawa
Heathd;4545470; said:
Gprime...
I have a little less then 4inches in my 75 gallon tank, which has a foot print of 48x18, and used 160lbs. So unless my math is funny, you would need about 200lbs to have the same depth that I have.

Marina fauna will help turn the sand and will populate in time, and bristle worms work pretty well. I have nausarrus snails in my tank, and I have yet to see them do anything other then burrow and just chill. The only time I see them out is when I am feeding the tank, which is presumably the only time they eat.
I've heard that nassarius snails are predatory snails and they'll eat the things living inside sand beds
 

scalesandfins

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2010
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Heathd;4545470; said:
Gprime...
I have a little less then 4inches in my 75 gallon tank, which has a foot print of 48x18, and used 160lbs. So unless my math is funny, you would need about 200lbs to have the same depth that I have.

Marina fauna will help turn the sand and will populate in time, and bristle worms work pretty well. I have nausarrus snails in my tank, and I have yet to see them do anything other then burrow and just chill. The only time I see them out is when I am feeding the tank, which is presumably the only time they eat.
my nas snails cruise alot. i have the big tiger ones tho. they are about 1.5 in long. does anyone know what they really eat? they dont seem like they could be very predatory
 

Heathd

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Mar 9, 2010
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Dallas, Texas
Gprime;4545844; said:
I've heard that nassarius snails are predatory snails and they'll eat the things living inside sand beds
Its possible, im just saying I have never observed it.
 
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