i was wondering becuase i am going to buy some for a 80 gal brackish tank so i was wondering wat the difference was
wats the difference between live sand and coral sand?
- Thread starter cudamaster13
- Start date
Live sand has live bacteria in it and is more suitable for a full marine aquarium. Using it with brackish will wind up in the bacteria dieing off and clouding the water. You'd basically be paying extra for live sand and getting no real benefit.
Coral sand is made from crushed coral rubble and it's a good pH buffer, that should be fine for a brackish tank.
You can also look at the different Cichlid Mixes that Carib Sea makes, which also buffer pH and the come in a variety of natural colors.
For mangrove type tanks I have read about people just using pool filter sand, which looks really natural but wont provide any pH buffering.
Coral sand is made from crushed coral rubble and it's a good pH buffer, that should be fine for a brackish tank.
You can also look at the different Cichlid Mixes that Carib Sea makes, which also buffer pH and the come in a variety of natural colors.
For mangrove type tanks I have read about people just using pool filter sand, which looks really natural but wont provide any pH buffering.
i used play sand in my tank. £3 for 15Kg. most people with marine tanks tend not to use live sand though... it quickly becomes live, especially if you have live rock ect.
for you it has no real benefits. coral sand acts as a Ph buffer, so that has its benefits, but it tends to trap dirt.
play sand, pool sand ect has no buffering qualities, but dirt tends to sit on top of these so its easier to clean.
for you it has no real benefits. coral sand acts as a Ph buffer, so that has its benefits, but it tends to trap dirt.
play sand, pool sand ect has no buffering qualities, but dirt tends to sit on top of these so its easier to clean.
bromie88;2637806; said:
The carib sea cichlid mix sand I used is the same way, the dirt just sits on top so it can be easily siphoned away, but it also does buffer the pH as well. Downside is it's not nearly as cheap as play sand
.Goanna;2637919; said:The carib sea cichlid mix sand I used is the same way, the dirt just sits on top so it can be easily siphoned away, but it also does buffer the pH as well. Downside is it's not nearly as cheap as play sand
for a 85 gallon tank with a semiaquatic beach setup were one side of the tank is all water and it has a gently slopeing slope that turns into a all land side of the tank if the water level is 13-16" deep in the main water area how much caribe sea coral sand will i need and can u guys show me some setups with caribe sea sand please
would fiddler crabs be could starters for my tank and filteration will be of a internal power filter,live baby mangrove plants,java fern,and i will be adding some gravel from my astablished freshwater cuda tank it has a massive bio filter with a huge benifical bacteria bed
cudamaster13;2638423; said:
I am using Carib Sea's "Sahara Sand" in my 65 gallon Mangrove tank. Theres a thread on here with pictures. The Carib sea website has pictures of all the available types as well.
I am using 3 25 lb bags on the bottom of my 65 gallon and it's only about 2-3" deep. You're going to need alot of it! I would maybe use playsand as a filler to cut back on costs, or stack a few clean bricks or something on one side and cover them with sand so you don't need to use as much.
cudamaster13;2638438; said:
If using Bio-media from a FW system in a brackish water tank, you will need to start it out as FW and then slowly add salt over a couple of weeks to convert it to brackish. Throwing seeded FW filter media/substrate into brackish water will result in the bacteria dieing right away from the quick change in salinity. You can do a fishless cycle in this same time frame just in case the seeded media doesnt take well to the salinity.
I am not sure if they will really provide the same bacteria as fish to get things going. Icudamaster13;2642315;2642315 said:
I used Bio-Spira on my tank and threw some large mollies in to get things rolling, I bought the FW and the SW version and I mixed about 2/3 FW and 1/3 SW solution. After a couple weeks the mollies went back to their normal tank with no harm done.
The original formula is now called Dr Tim's one and only, or you can try the Instant Ocean and Tetra brands that oceanic redid to supposedly make them stable at room temp.
Goanna;2642414; said:
how about caribe sea instant aqaurium sunset gold sand will it be able to go in my brackish tank with a sg of 1.005