Gulf Coast Substrate

[jhutto]

Looking to set up at 90-125 gallon reef system. Been reading that play sand is ok (on this site) and others say that Southdown is better for the looks. But when I read about substrate in The Complete Marine Auquarist, they say that the play sand is not good as it does have slicia and does not have the calcium buffers that the traditional substrate has. Its a little confusing. I have a trip to Panama City over the holidays and I was thinking about bring some of the very white sand back from theGulf Coast. Its looks like sugar was wondering it might the right thing to do. Thoughts? Its very fine grains but very cool looking.

Joe

 

[family reefer]

The problem with that idea is that the fine sand will , over time, compact in your tank, trapping gasses and other nasty stuff. Then, at a later date it will be disturbed( by you or a tank dweller) and all that nasty stuff is released into the system. Bang! Instant bucks down the drain. Get yourself some aragonite from the local fish store. There are ways to save money in the hobby, this ain't one of em. Besides, it stays nice and white if your system is running properly and you keep a good cleanup crew in there. (snails, crabs, maybe a sandsifting star or sea cucumber, etc...)

 

[george]

jhutto wrote: Looking to set up at 90-125 gallon reef system. Been reading that play sand is ok (on this site) and others say that Southdown is better for the looks. But when I read about substrate in The Complete Marine Auquarist, they say that the play sand is not good as it does have slicia and does not have the calcium buffers that the traditional substrate has. Its a little confusing. I have a trip to Panama City over the holidays and I was thinking about bring some of the very white sand back from theGulf Coast. Its looks like sugar was wondering it might the right thing to do. Thoughts? Its very fine grains but very cool looking.

Joe

Southdown is just aragonite play sand and is made up of the same kind of calcium carbonate sand that aquarium trade brands sell at hiher prices. Most play sand you see at stores is silica sand, though, so generally you'll see "play sand is bad".

As mentioned, you'd be hauling a lot of uncleaned sand. It's also very illegal without a collection permit in Florida. FL takes their environmental and animal laws very, very seriously (some acts of cruelty to animals carry stiffer penalties than the same thing to humans!), so I don't suggest swiping sand from the beach.

 

[wbholwell]

I just aquired a 72 gallon bowfront reef tank with about a 3" sand bed. It looks like pretty fine white sand but has these "black pebbles" in it. The tank came with a conch and I bought a sand star to keep the sand bed stirred. The bioload is not that high (a tomato clown, a percula clown, a yellow tail damsel, a potter's angel and a bicolor angel)- do you think this is enough to keep the sandbed stirred? Also, what are the black pebbles and are they useful? I am thinking of removing them for aesthetic reasons.