nineball
Active member
I would definitely recommend doing it before you die because it's extremely difficult to do after..........
The car.....that's another matter.
Peter
Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)
- Thread starter nineball
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I would definitely recommend doing it before you die because it's extremely difficult to do after..........
The car.....that's another matter.
Peter
TotalVapor
In Memoriam
Great build I got a lot of ideas from the house and the tank. Cant wait for it to be finished....
Thank you for sharing
Thank you for sharing
chingchai
Premium Member
syedjilani
Active member
nineball
just read the entire thread this is going to be an incredible build!!!,
looking forward to seeing the progression. Simply outstanding.:thumbsup:
just read the entire thread this is going to be an incredible build!!!,
looking forward to seeing the progression. Simply outstanding.:thumbsup:
Aquarist007
New member
Antonais, here is the sand. I'm planning a shallow bed for the start.
That is great sand for any reef setup. You want to stay clear from the crushed coral. It has small shells in it that very quickly gather detrius etc and turn brown or black. Very difficult to clean and maintain. If you put a lot of necessarius snails in the argonite and have the proper flow across it you should always have a clean white substrate with little maintenanace.
IMO keep the sand bed not more than an inch in the display tank. Deep sand beds in display tanks eventually foul up---whether or not it is 5 years down the line but they don't seem to last forever.
With an inch sand bed you can always add a 1/2 or so every year to replentish it with little problems. Sand does lose its buffering capabilities over time.
Alot of reefers(including me) run a deep sand bed remotely from the tank as in a refugium but there are many more effecient ways of removing nitrates then a dsb such as a refugium full of cheato macro, plenty of live rock, and just not overfeeding to begin with.
No titles in Canada?----you mean Hoser is not a title or SOB---I thought when I was called that it was a sign of respect
:spin3:This is a really good read on deep sand beds
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1652103
nineball
Active member
Thank you Chingchai, I always appreciate your feedback. I trust the traffic in Bangkok is improving and getting less troublesome? :sad2:
Peter
nineball
Active member
nineball
Active member
nineball
Active member
nineball
Active member
Thank you TotalVapor, I should warn you, this may take a while........ Welcome to the group.
Peter
nineball
Active member
Aquarist007
New member
growing group---are you going to offer t-shirts and hats soon:lol:
nineball
Active member
That is great sand for any reef setup. You want to stay clear from the crushed coral. It has small shells in it that very quickly gather detrius etc and turn brown or black. Very difficult to clean and maintain. If you put a lot of necessarius snails in the argonite and have the proper flow across it you should always have a clean white substrate with little maintenanace.
IMO keep the sand bed not more than an inch in the display tank. Deep sand beds in display tanks eventually foul up---whether or not it is 5 years down the line but they don't seem to last forever.
With an inch sand bed you can always add a 1/2 or so every year to replentish it with little problems. Sand does lose its buffering capabilities over time.
Alot of reefers(including me) run a deep sand bed remotely from the tank as in a refugium but there are many more effecient ways of removing nitrates then a dsb such as a refugium full of cheato macro, plenty of live rock, and just not overfeeding to begin with.
No titles in Canada?----you mean Hoser is not a title or SOB---I thought when I was called that it was a sign of respect
This is a really good read on deep sand beds
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1652103
Thank you capn, I am relieved that this sand is OK. Your suggestion re depth is also welcome. I was planning something along those lines. Hopefully it will also put the earlier concerns to bed about the CL returns jamming up as well although I am planing to use the larger raised filter heads as well. Chingchai used a plant material similar to the cheato macro as well if I remember correctly. I have been meaning to ask him if it was still working for him. He had it with the miracle mud base. Seemed like a great idea at the time.
When I made the decision to drop the bio balls I decided to fill that reservoir with live rock.....I have some spare I think!:idea:
No, Hoser is a label you have to earn but it does stick around for life!!!!:dance:
Now I'm off to do some more reading.
Peter
nineball
Active member
Actually I'm working on a mug that says
" I'm actually older than Peter's build "
Peter that's the sand I use and it's what I'd recommend. I keep a pair of these gobies which keep it sparkling clean although in your tank you'll likely need a few pairs.Antonais, here is the sand. I'm planning a shallow bed for the start.
Peter
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
I agree with the Capn's opinion on only one inch of sand on the bottom (just enough to cover the bottom), as well as the top-up idea annually. Any calcareous (calcium-based) substrate will act as a phosphate sink as it absorbs it. If you use a phosphate remover such as an iron-based (ferric oxide) gravel in a media reactor, you will not have to remove a portion of the sand annually as the reactor will leach the phosphate out of it by keeping the water column phosphate-free, leaving room for it to go back into solution.
Where I will differ in opinion is with the size of the aragonite grains. You aren't going to like my answer, but I would never use fine sand with an acrylic tank. The sand flies up and gets into the cleaning magnet resulting in scratches. I use the coarse aragonite with shells mixed in. It keeps the sand out of the magnet as well as out of the closed loop intakes. Natural reefs have coarse substrate. Some people don't like the coraline algae growth you get with larger granules, but I prefer it over the yellowish colour you get with aged aragonite.
Biologically and chemically you will have the same results with large or small granules. There are sound arguments that either is more efficient than the other. As the Capn pointed out, coarse sand will collect more detritus, but if you go with fine sand the detritus sits on the surface. It's like having a deep pile shag rug that hides dirt or a hardwood floor that looks dirty with the smallest amount of debris. Both have their merits.
Burrowing fish like wrasse prefer fine sand so they can swim right into it, while cave building fish like gobies prefer coarse sand as it is a more stable building block for tunnels.
With glass tanks I use the stuff you bought mixed with shells and coarse on top, but as I mentioned, acrylic tanks work best with substrate that won't migrate into the cleaning magnet.
Where I will differ in opinion is with the size of the aragonite grains. You aren't going to like my answer, but I would never use fine sand with an acrylic tank. The sand flies up and gets into the cleaning magnet resulting in scratches. I use the coarse aragonite with shells mixed in. It keeps the sand out of the magnet as well as out of the closed loop intakes. Natural reefs have coarse substrate. Some people don't like the coraline algae growth you get with larger granules, but I prefer it over the yellowish colour you get with aged aragonite.
Biologically and chemically you will have the same results with large or small granules. There are sound arguments that either is more efficient than the other. As the Capn pointed out, coarse sand will collect more detritus, but if you go with fine sand the detritus sits on the surface. It's like having a deep pile shag rug that hides dirt or a hardwood floor that looks dirty with the smallest amount of debris. Both have their merits.
Burrowing fish like wrasse prefer fine sand so they can swim right into it, while cave building fish like gobies prefer coarse sand as it is a more stable building block for tunnels.
With glass tanks I use the stuff you bought mixed with shells and coarse on top, but as I mentioned, acrylic tanks work best with substrate that won't migrate into the cleaning magnet.
I have several wrasses and they burrow in the course sand without a problem. My sand bed is quite shallow and interestingly enough the gobies will take a mix of sand & rubble to pile up around their cave area creating a spot where it's quite deep so a few of the larger wrasses burrow in that spot at night.
I use rubble in high flow areas where the sand tends to blow away. It works well and looks very natural.
I use rubble in high flow areas where the sand tends to blow away. It works well and looks very natural.
nineball
Active member
Peter that's the sand I use and it's what I'd recommend. I keep a pair of these gobies which keep it sparkling clean although in your tank you'll likely need a few pairs.
Greg, I think I can tell you that your suggestion for the few pairs of gobies is probably the first time I will publicly acknowledge the kind of fish that will make it into our tank. If ever asked in a trivial pursuit game as to who called the first variety of fish to be introduced it will be Oldude and gobies.
You heard it here first.
Peter
ps. Great photo by the way!!!
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