Is this a dumb idea? Has anyone tried it

[pammy]

Hello All.

Complete newbie here....reading as much as I can to try to avoid as many mistakes as possible before I set up my first Salt Water tank.

Sold on TBS Rock.... I'm excited about ordering the package.

I like the idea that their live sand is collected right there by their live rock under the ocean, and I'm sure it's chalk full of life. I do also understand the aestethic issues some people have with it. I know it's a personal choice. I'm sure some love the look of it and some hate it. I want the benefits of TBS's live sand, but it does look nice with finer sand. Has anyone tired this....or is this a dumb idea?? I'm getting a 54g corner bowfront tank. I was wondering.....could I put the TBS Live sand in the back half of the tank, with finer sand up front, and kind of mix the two where they meet, or put the TBS sand all around the live rock, and place finer sand as you get away from the rock? Obviously would have to find a close enough color of the fine sand. Would that cause problems in the tank? Look stupid? I'm thinking in the ocean.....the sand is much courser around the reef, and gets finer as you get away from the reef....so I would want to kind of simulate that.

Thanks!
Pam

 

[wickedfood]

it's going to be hard to maintain seperation in your tank over a period of time. thnk about it--at some point your gonna have to stir up or vacuum your sandbed. being that it's all gonna get mixed togehter eventually, I'd just go with all TBS sand. i like the look of it actually.

 

[CaptRon]

If you have a fuge, just put it in there. Eventually, some of the life will make it into the column and seed your sand in your display tank.

 

[snookhunter]

I actually put course grade live sand on the bottom then covered it with fine grade sand. Hasn't blended together for the most part and it's been up a year.

Leftover course grade sand I put in my fuge.

 

[pammy]

Thanks for the ideas. Will covering the course live sand kill any of the bacteria / life in the sand?

Thanks, Pam

 

[snookhunter]

Not that I'm aware of. I haven't had any problems yet. I covered it with maybe 1/2 to 1" of fine sand, figuring this would not be too deep yet still let all the critters combine into the new sand.

 

[CaptRon]

I bought two different grain sizes of sand for my current tank and mixed it up well before adding it to the bottom. Over the past year, the snails churned it up more and the course sand seems to have floated to the top making my tank look horrible. It's what I'd call the "potato chip effect"; all the big pieces are at the top and the useless crumbs are on the bottom. I'm going with finer sand for the replacement tank and ditching the old stuff after it's seeded. I'll be putting some of the old sand in a tupperware cup in the fuge to seed.

 

[pammy]

Good idea about putting some of the old sand in the fuge. Is the fuge separate from the sump?

Thanks from a newbie!

 

[CaptRon]

The fuge is a divided section within the sump I made out of a 20g tank. It's just a basic design (skimmer section > bubble trap > fuge > return section)

Here's what I was talking about with the potato chip effect and different sized sand grains

All the smaller grains found their way to the bottom and the big ugly pieces floated to the top. This was all throughly mixed in last year when the tank was setup. It only took a few months for the nassarius snails to do this. It looks horrible and I can't wait 'til I get the other tank up and running.

 

[pammy]

I totally see your point! I wouldn't have been happy with it the end result of the mixed sand either. THANK YOU for posting the picture and taking the time to explain what happened when you mixed the two sands.
Pam