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boadyboom View Drop Down
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    Posted: April 18 2013 at 9:58pm
What type of sand does everyone use, or like better than others? Has anyone ever tried this sand off of amazon? With starting a new tank should I add a bag of live sand as well?
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icenine View Drop Down
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Points: 144 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote icenine Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2013 at 7:41am
I've found I like the carib sea special grade reef sand the best. You don't need the "live" version but it's often just as cheap and available at petco. Its a 1-2mm grain size, that works well fora 1-3" bed.
Sugar size grain is too "fluid" for my taste and anything larger than 2mm just looks junky unless its used in a very large system imo.
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Mark Peterson View Drop Down
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Aloha,

It's mostly about personal preference, what looks good to the hobbyist.

I have found that a 1" layer of Oolitic on the bottom with a half inch of larger particle sand of your choosing works very well. Less Oolitic sand is required to do the same job as larger particle sand. With a sand bad that is only 1.5" deep, there is more room for coral and fish. Smile

Oolitic sand is not so difficult as you would think. It requires water flow which also improves pH and after 2-4 weeks the life living in and on the Oolitic sand holds it together. The tank below was practically all Oolitic sand.

Using just a cup of LS from an established reef tank is 10x better than buying the Arag-Alive live sand.
The link below, WMAS Reefkeeping Tips, tells more about it.

Mahalo,
Mark Hug
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:
www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244
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Ann_A View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Mark Peterson Mark Peterson wrote:

Using just a cup of LS from an established reef tank is 10x better than buying the Arag-Alive live sand.

Definitely agree with this. The arag alive is just a wet mix of sand and dead bacteria which only causes nitrates and phosphates to increase from the dead organisms that come with the sand.

Just go with the dry sand route and see if someone on the board will give you a cup or two of sand. Better yet, get a few cups from a few different tanks for more diversity.
RSM 250 Reef
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boadyboom View Drop Down
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My last tank was all Oolitic and I liked it, I also used live sand from a few different tanks which worked out great. Thanks for the heads up and info!
Boady
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Mark Peterson View Drop Down
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Points: 21437 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2013 at 6:02pm
Aloha,

We are so fortunate to have Oolitic sand at our doorstep, more or less. Embarrassed
I have some left. It's 50 cents/lb.
btw the sand in that link to amazon.com sparkles too much to be Oolitic. It's probably part or all silica sand.

Mahalo,
Mark Hug
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:
www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244
Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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