sand from beach
- Thread starter robot2222
- Start date
turns out i started my tank 2 weeks ago i used 90 lbs of live rock and no sand bed . however i am going to use a dsb in my refuge 4 to 5 inches due to my first experiance with purple alge . i bought the tank used 72 bowfront he gave me all the plumbng and refuge and a couple of books an pakaged some of the live sand in a plastic bag in a bucket.he gave me a run down on some ins and outs and put the whole thing together 4 me since i am handicapped. which i did appreciate .so i thought this purple alge is good i tought it was the purple coriline alge i was hoping for so i am exited but then it takes over and my powerhhead blows underneath the algege and is blowing it up like a bubble so all in all my wife pulls this alge off the rocks time and time again until we move and take the tank down so i am here again starting over i want avoid this mishap is this par for the course everyone gets it or can i avoid this. things i did this time to try to alter this are dsb and i have added phosban reactor . so to make a long story short these are the questions i have is what was this purple alge and how can i avoid it . sorry to not have mentiond i was using ro water from a water store and using a euro reef rs80 skimmer .
Whys
New member
Deep Sand Bed. Provides de-nitrafication water filtration. Bare minimum 3", recommended minimum 4", recommended limit 6". Requires fine-grain substrate, sugar-fine (oolite) recommended, some mixed-sized substrate can be acceptable. Requires micro-fauna and other small critters to keep the sandbed healthy. Is a topic of great continual debate. Waterkeeper can tell you everything about it, and would likely be happy to do so.
My 02
I have used Ocean sand for about 30 yrs ... like most things in life you need to use common sense.
Never have understood that people who have no clue where/how their expensive bagged sand is collected/stored/handled - make claims about the dangers associated with collecting "unknown" beach sand.
I have used Ocean sand for about 30 yrs ... like most things in life you need to use common sense.
Never have understood that people who have no clue where/how their expensive bagged sand is collected/stored/handled - make claims about the dangers associated with collecting "unknown" beach sand.
Whys
New member
There is a certain security to using sand that has, is, and will likely continue to be, collected from the same area and used by many others with great success.
Not at all the same as picking your own location and using sand that others have not, do not, and perhaps will not, be collecting from the same area and using with great success.
Even when the location is unknown, the great abundance of anecdotal evidence can speak for itself. That is not to say one can not find their own sand beyond the shelf. One need simply be aware of the *possible* risk.
