i know there is alot of debate on amount of and types of live sand. im just going to be running a 29 gallon reef. i was looking for some input on how much and what types of sand i should use. ive heard the best is about 2" deep. i prefer very fine sand like beach sand but is that less affective in culture the bacteria needed than crushed coral?
live sand question
- Thread starter ryan27272
- Start date
redfishsc
New member
I have the dry (non-live) Aragamax Select. It was the nicest sand I could find that was right down the road from where I was at when I decided to buy some sand (ie, Petsmart, and it didn't really matter to me what I got).
I actually like this sand a lot-- nice and bright, almost white, nice even particle size, and the spaghetti worms love it. It doesn't pack very hard, and is a great consistency for sand-sifters.
That being said, I would probably NEVER waste a nickle on the wet bags of "live sand" you get at some places.
They claim to have "bla bla billion bacteria", which honestly ANY sand will have as soon as the tank cycles. Once the tank cycles, all you have is wet sand.
I advocate shallow sand beds. If you want a deep sand bed, do it remotely (and I am not a big DSB fan for various reason but they can be helpful if you take care of them).
Personally, all you really need is enough to cover the bottom--- I like 0.5" to 1.5" and let the powerheads decide where it will pile up.
Anything more than ~1.5", IMO, is a waste of space and water displacement. 2" is fine, but even still I'd prefer it to be 2" in some places and nearly 0 in others.
If you plan on any sand-dwellers (like pistol shrimp etc...) then you might consider something deeper, or making a biome of some sort for him.
I actually like this sand a lot-- nice and bright, almost white, nice even particle size, and the spaghetti worms love it. It doesn't pack very hard, and is a great consistency for sand-sifters.
That being said, I would probably NEVER waste a nickle on the wet bags of "live sand" you get at some places.
They claim to have "bla bla billion bacteria", which honestly ANY sand will have as soon as the tank cycles. Once the tank cycles, all you have is wet sand.
I advocate shallow sand beds. If you want a deep sand bed, do it remotely (and I am not a big DSB fan for various reason but they can be helpful if you take care of them).
Personally, all you really need is enough to cover the bottom--- I like 0.5" to 1.5" and let the powerheads decide where it will pile up.
Anything more than ~1.5", IMO, is a waste of space and water displacement. 2" is fine, but even still I'd prefer it to be 2" in some places and nearly 0 in others.
If you plan on any sand-dwellers (like pistol shrimp etc...) then you might consider something deeper, or making a biome of some sort for him.
