Looking for sand/gravel.

[odie]

I will be looking for some sand/gravel in the next few weeks for the 125 I am setting up. I am using a finer grade of aragonite not sand in my nano. It seems to work and might go the same route with the 125. Any reasons I should look into other options?

Anyone have any left from any recent tank builds?? Jumpman420...Scott!!
If not what are some reasonable sources.

Back when I did freshy tanks Menards was a persons bestfriend for substrate. Not if their is a equivalent for saltys?

[Timmy]

Matt at OTP has the rest of Scotts sand. Last time I was there he still had it, give him a call.

[jumpman420]

If Matt doesn't have enough left or whatever, I think I still have a couple bags left anyways. I put my sand in first, and then filled the tank, next to NO cloudiness in the tank without rinsing anything.

[odie]

Thanx for the heads up!!! Hey is that real fine sand or course?

[D.J.]

menards does have SUGAR SAND(playsand) that i ran in my tanks untill i got the 90g......it worked great and look good....just like what ya see on TV.....BUT some people are against it...and some use it....just PREFERENCE......it is a filtered and 100% pure sand that they have...i never had an issue with it....its only downfall i had was flow....too much flow and it blows it around EASILY.......

i know carl(still wet) and lennie(maland) are still runnin it in their tanks....

[firsthesitation]

Eh.....playsand....leave that to playgrounds. Matt always has great deals on both live sand and dried. I know its a heck of a drive for you from Rochester but it'd be far more beneficial to your tank then putting a silicate based sand product in your tank. Otherwise how fars SWE from you? If thats closer for you if I remember correctly their prices on livesand were spot on.

[odie]

Yeah I dont want to mess much with sand that is too fine. In the my dwarf rift-lake cichlid and plant days I had pumps get burned out by sand floating around to much. Of course the fish were digging though.

I like the course sand or smaller mm crushed coral. Small enough for sifting thru but large enough to not make a dust cloud.

Should I be using sand?? To be honest I am not sure what fish I will keep at this point. But a blenny, goby, dragonet could be on the horizon.

[reefcrazy8587]

Originally Posted by D.J.

menards does have SUGAR SAND(playsand) that i ran in my tanks untill i got the 90g......it worked great and look good....just like what ya see on TV.....BUT some people are against it...and some use it....just PREFERENCE......it is a filtered and 100% pure sand that they have...i never had an issue with it....its only downfall i had was flow....too much flow and it blows it around EASILY.......

i know carl(still wet) and lennie(maland) are still runnin it in their tanks....

we have it in the nano--it looks good, but when you clean the glass it stirs up some

[firsthesitation]

you could use a bigger granular size sand or some of the other kinds have a crush coral/shell mix in with them which tend to be stirred up less easily.

I think Petco carries this kinda for right around $25:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...5&pcatid=16765

Otherwise this is the one most of us have probly used:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...21&pcatid=7321

[odie]

yeah I think I used the second one(aragamax) mentioned in my Nano. I will have to see if I have the bag as I think I have a bit left. It seemed more course than what I would call sand. But if that is the term I will go with that. I will ask Matt to see what he has in.

Jumpman/Scott- is it a fine sand or like the aragamax

Thanx all.

[ZMattie]

Id say hit up OTP! He always has sand and I believe its near $1 a #. Otherwise, you could go the route I went and order some. Its hard to beat what I paid for the sand, even with the shipping.... The guy was great to work with and even gives you his phone number incase theres any issues. Heres the link.
http://cgi.ebay.com/45LB-WHITE-FIJI-...3A1%7C294%3A50

[jumpman420]

I would say it is in between, probably .5mm to 1.0mm if I had to take a guess? As far as stirring it up cleaning, not sure how you clean your glass, but I only use my magnet cleaner to about 4 or 5" from the sand, then use a blade for the rest. Doing it this way prevents sand from getting into the magnet and scratching everything up.

My buddy had the black sand in his tank, and that was 1.0mm to 2.0mm, and it seemed to really let the "poo" of the tank settle down into the sand until it was "full." The smaller the grain seems to "seal" the top of the sand bed surface, not allowing as much to settle down into the sand.