What sand to use with vortechs?

[mapleredta]

Been getting a lot of mixed opinions on which sand I should be using with my vortechs. Fine sand will not work i've come to find out. I will be having some sort of a goby so keep that in mind please.

 

[weaglereefer]

Check out Caribsea Special Grade Sea Flor sand.

Small enough to look like sand and be sifted, large enough to stay put (even with 4000gph in my 90)

 

[mapleredta]

au01st;499767 wrote: Check out Caribsea Special Grade Sea Flor sand.

Small enough to look like sand and be sifted, large enough to stay put (even with 4000gph in my 90)

Thank you! About how much do you have in your tank? lb wise?

 

[acroholic]

Oz and Raj have Seachem Pearl Beach. I don't know what type pumps Raj has, but Oz has at least 4 Vortech 40s in his big boy 485 gallon.
Dave

 

[mapleredta]

Acroholic;499799 wrote: Oz and Raj have Seachem Pearl Beach. I don't know what type pumps Raj has, but Oz has at least 4 Vortech 40s in his big boy 485 gallon.
Dave

Awsome. Now to figure out how many bags to buy.

 

[budsreef]

I used Carib Sea Seafloor Reef Sand in my 4'x2'x2' 120G. It comes dry and needs to be rinsed well, is a little heavier than Fiji Pink, but can still be sifted by a goby. I have two Vortechs which moved it around some at first but once it settled it was ok. I have my Vortechs on each end, about 4 inches from the top with the closed part of the screen pointing down. Now that I've added a Diamond Goby I get quite a bit of swirling stuff especially when the bicolor blenny chases the goby.

 

[budsreef]

I started out with 120lbs, but ended up removing about 20 lbs. I didn't need as much since I first put down shelf rock to cover most of the bottom before adding the sand. That way all the rock above is sitting on rock and not the sand so nothing can undermine the rock by digging.

 

[rbredding]

Acroholic;499799 wrote: Oz and Raj have Seachem Pearl Beach. I don't know what type pumps Raj has, but Oz has at least 4 Vortech 40s in his big boy 485 gallon.
Dave

I thought that Raj has the Meridian like I've got.. it's sugar sized..

 

[acroholic]

Rbredding;500340 wrote: I thought that Raj has the Meridian like I've got.. it's sugar sized..

I could be wrong...I thought OZ told me he and Raj had the same stuff, the Pearl Beach. Oz's substrate is sugar fine and very white.

 

[acroholic]

mapleredta;500034 wrote: Awsome. Now to figure out how many bags to buy.

A decent rule of thumb is figure each 20# bag has .23 cubic feet (397 cubic inches). Multiply L x W x Depth of the sandbed you want in inches, divide by 397 and that should give you a decent count on 20# bags to buy.

 

[weaglereefer]

Acroholic;500397 wrote: A decent rule of thumb is figure each 20# bag has .23 cubic feet (397 cubic inches). Multiply L x W x Depth of the sandbed you want in inches, divide by 397 and that should give you a decent count on 20# bags to buy.

Hehe, that's pretty good. I wanted a <1" sandbed in my 90, used just under one 40lb bag, and came out to just under an inch (math said 1" was 2.17 20lb bags).


Have to file that one away in the ole noggin of seldom used reef trivia.

 

[acroholic]

au01st;500413 wrote: Hehe, that's pretty good. I wanted a <1" sandbed in my 90, used just under one 40lb bag, and came out to just under an inch (math said 1" was 2.17 20lb bags).


Have to file that one away in the ole noggin of seldom used reef trivia.

I only know that because I just had to figure how many bags of substrate to buy for my 300 gallon!