sand or crushed coral

[hotfiremedic72]

Im starting a 90g reef ready tank any sugg?, i dont like the crushed coral look is there a good brand of sand out there to try?

[Chris86]

Any Live Sand is good, in my opinion. There is many different brand out there. This is what kind of live sand i have in my tank. And i got it cheaper at my lfs.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=CS0790

[Discdogge]

You don't have to buy live sand, because it will be live within a month.
Most people dont like to use crushed coral, as I think (Im not sure) it traps debris and can cause nitrate problems.

A lot of people like southdown play sand, but it seems it can only be found up north, even though it comes from FL, grrrrr.
You can go with regular play sand, although a lot of people argue that silica based sand is a bad way to go.

I just realized your in jax, lol.
the local fish stores all carry the carib sea reef sand, it's about 1$ a pound.
Thats good sand, just not exactly cheap.

[leveldrummer]

good thing you dont like the crushed coral, cause its not the best idea for a reef tank, go with any other type of sand you like, aragonite is good stuff imo.

[pyron88]

I have always used aragonite 2 - 4mm. IMO, by using a little larger size you can have more flow without your sand turning into a snow storm in your tank. I think the extra flow keeps wastes in the water until it can be filtered out by which ever method you pick. I use a skimmer and large HOB filter with only one filter in it. I flush out the filter every other day and change the filter about once a month. I am working on a CLS now and hope to have that ready to talk about soon.

[VWD]

I agree on the Aragnoite is nice

[Loverotties]

I use Live sand.

[Pinderville]

Originally Posted by Chris86

Any Live Sand is good, in my opinion. There is many different brand out there. This is what kind of live sand i have in my tank. And i got it cheaper at my lfs.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=CS0790

I use this one too.

[evelester]

Originally Posted by Chris86

Any Live Sand is good, in my opinion. There is many different brand out there. This is what kind of live sand i have in my tank. And i got it cheaper at my lfs.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=CS0790

I just wanted to add that my local pet store (no local 'fish' store) sells this EXACT bag for 88.90!! My jaw dropped when I saw this link!! I am sooo glad I didnt buy it there! Thanks for sharing this!

[Fly Guy]

I really dont recommend buying live sand for 2 reasons.

1. It costs a lot more

2. If you are going to start fresh, then start fresh with new clean dry sand. it will become live soon enough and it will not already potentially have phosphates in it. It will become live on its own soon enough. If you must, you cna ad a cup or two of live sand from somebodies tank to seed it.....but not necessary.

Welcome to trt

[mmn_usn]

you live in florida.... go get the sand from the beach. Wash it really good and there you go. I got my sand from the beach and it was amazing what kinda critters you end up with. I had a tiger conch, 3 pistol shrimp, hermit crabs and ghost shrimp. I also has alot of worms but you only saw those if you looked at the bottom of the tank.