New setup substrate questions

[sigshane]

Hey all. Well, after an overnight leak check on my plumbing and tank seams, I am starting to think about substrate. I plan to start out with a fowlr, and possibly evolve to more complex reef later. I would like to know what type of substrate - fine sand, crushed coral, mix, etc. - y'all would use if you were in my position. I do plan to have a cleanup crew, including those awesome burrowing snails, and I particularly love the sand-sifting diamond goby 👍

Oh, and about how much should I get, in terms of pounds, for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 inches deep in a 48x18 90 gallon tank.

Thanks,

Shane

 

[bcrueter]

Alot of that depends on what you like...If you plan on a reef tank you will need alot of flow...Smaller grain will blow around like crazy but if you go to big then you cant get a sand sleeping wrasse.just things to think about...I am a big fan of the black Hawaian sand. It seems to be the right grain and I like the look. so it really is a matter of preafence. In my 48x24 I used 5 bags but it is not as deep as what you are wanting just as a refrence.

 

[stacy22]

CaribSea SeaFlor Special Grade

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

I used a mix of black and white sand and it's different grain sizes. It all goes back to what has been said...what do you plan to keep in the future. Not what you'll keep right now but in a year or two years from now. The last thing you want to have to do is replace your sand in a year. As far as how much....I use the 1 #/ gallon rule. That should give you about the depth you are looking for.

 

[redstang]

stacy22;1006992 wrote: CaribSea SeaFlor Special Grade

+1. Not too big, not too small.

 

[nickh06]

stacy22;1006992 wrote: CaribSea SeaFlor Special Grade

+1

This is what I used in my 90 when I rebuilt. Went with Ocean direct first and it was way too fine, got blown around all the time. The special grade is a good medium without getting the crushed coral look and still good for sand sifters.

 

[sigshane]

I'm getting 40 lbs of the Hawaiian black, and 50 lbs of the Bahamas oolite. I liked that mix idea the best

 

[hiimsean]

I had SeaFlor on my last tank and I liked it a lot. My melanurus wrasse had no problems borrow into it. I went with Fiji Pink on my current tank and its a bit too fine. It gets blown around a lot but I'd imagine it's a lot more gentle on the wrasse. I'm not sure how the SeaFlor would be for other wrasses like leopards.

 

[jennm]

stacy22;1006992 wrote: CaribSea SeaFlor Special Grade

The choice of champions. :yes:

 

[dustin]

Add it a little at a time and be conservative. Don't make the mistake of putting in more than an inch deep as you will end up with something that's just collecting waste. I've had a few slow crashes when I had a deep bed.

 

[sigshane]

Thanks all. I wound up buying 90 lbs of live sand, a mixture of bahama oolite and hawaiian black.

I mixed them up on the floor of the tank, in about five inches of water, and hand-mixed it. It looks pretty nice!

Finished filling the tank, and just waiting for the cloudiness to dissipate - that oolite is kind of fine, and I think i had my power head aimed in a direction that was stirring it up too much.

Thanks for all your input!

 

[rk4435]

I started with crushed coral. I had to tear my tank apart to catch a predator and switched to a fine sand because I feared that the crushed coral was leaching something into my system, you can find threads / claims about that, not sure if it is true though. The biggest reefing mistake I have made is switching to a fine sand. I can't get my flow the way I need it now because of the fine sand and have a diatom problem in a specific area.

I think you'll be happy with your choice and I plan to change the next time I have to do anything big in my tank.

 

[lsu_fishfan]

stacy22;1006992 wrote: CaribSea SeaFlor Special Grade

Is this the same as the special grade reef?