Adding Sand
- Thread starter Willie_6
- Start date
MJAnderson
Premium Member
I don't think it makes a big difference between live and dead sand, although the diversity might be helpful to "rejuvenate" your old live sand. I was told not to add more than 1/4 of an inch at a time as you MIGHT cause some die-off in your existing sand.
fambrough
Member
I just did this. I added some fine grained sand to a tank that has had only coarse grain. My motivation was making a more suitable substrate for detritivores and denitrification. I was adding dry sand to live sand. My suggestions are three part. One, you have to soak and stir the sand to remove/float organic contaminates. Use mixed salt water of the same specific gravity as your tank water to do this. Two, remove some tank water--the sand will add volume. Three, use a zig lock bag to add the sand: partially fill the bag with new sand. Seal it. Lower it to the bottom of your tank. Open it and gently pour the sand onto your existing substrate. This will minimize the cloud of small particulate matter. I genlty mixed the my substrates. If you already have a fine grained substrate in place, you may not want to do that. I also added a cup of sand from my more established tank to help seed the new stuff.
Best of luck,
Ben
Best of luck,
Ben
fambrough
Member
I used ultra reef marine sand only because I got a good deal on the small amount a LFS had left. It was kind of a random thing at store I don't often patron.
What are you going for here? DSB, SSB? I think what you use and how you use it depends on your reef keeping methodology, which should be decided first. Also, I'm far from expert! Others on the boards have loads more experiecnce than I do. Better they chime in. Or read some of the articles on the main boards.
Cheers,
Ben
What are you going for here? DSB, SSB? I think what you use and how you use it depends on your reef keeping methodology, which should be decided first. Also, I'm far from expert! Others on the boards have loads more experiecnce than I do. Better they chime in. Or read some of the articles on the main boards.
Cheers,
Ben
It's similar size to crushed coral. The creature content was huge. All small, stars, slugs, snails.
I added the grunge on top of my crushed coral, which I wished I never started with. The grunge was the best thing I did as during my set up. I plan on moving in a year and wanted to get a tank established before I move into a larger one.
Not sure if it would be ok with on top of sand.
I added the grunge on top of my crushed coral, which I wished I never started with. The grunge was the best thing I did as during my set up. I plan on moving in a year and wanted to get a tank established before I move into a larger one.
Not sure if it would be ok with on top of sand.
