Substrate Selection Help

[DK_Reef]

Hello everyone,

I need help choosing a substrate for my FO. I did read the stickies in the beginners section and decided that a shallow sand bed is best. Less than an inch.

I am thinking of agronite or crushed coral, what is the optimal particle size and any brand recommendations?

 

[anaya]

will you be housing any sand sifters, wrasses, eels, rays, bottom dwelling sharks or dragonettes?

If so that will determine the grain size.

I tend to get at least one bag of every brand live sand I can find to help with biological diversity.

 

[AlexS95]

I like the Fine sand from Marcorocks, but it will cloud up the tank if someone starts playing in it.

 

[DK_Reef]

None of those expect maybe a Fairy Wrasse.

 

[fender4string]

Aragonite has pH buffering abilities and tends to be the standard recommendation for sand composition. I'd personally recommend a grain size between sugar sized and crushed coral sized. I've had sugar grain since I started my tank and I hate it. it blows all over the place and makes holes down to the glass. I'll be siphoning it out in lieu of something heavier. Crushed coral on the other hand is a detritus trap and basically just allows food and poo to get trapped in it and to slowly decompose.

Also, avoid "live sand." Buy it dry to save money. The same goes for rock. Simply buy a small amount of live rock from a LFS to seed the rest of the tank. It's a much cheaper route to go.


I'm going to be getting something like this.
http://www.marinedepot.com/CaribSea...Reef_Aquariums-CaribSea-CS0020-FISSDS-vi.html

 

[mexiconyeric]

What about putting crushed coral on the bottom and a nice layer of sand over it?

 

[namxas]

IME, if your run #3 or #1 grade aragonite, it will be perfect for FOWLR with a shallow bed. Both of these grain sizes are a lot smaller than CC, but don't trap detritus between the grains, and they "lay down" much better than sugar-fine/oolitic sand.

We keep Scorpaeniformes almost exclusively, and both have been fine for "semi-burrowing" species.

To give you an idea, this little S. diabolus is about 3" long and is in a mixture of #1 and #3 grade:

 

[DK_Reef]

Thanks for the replies and tips. Yes so far I have a good amount of dry BRS rock. and I will be very selective with what to seed it with.

Now for the sand yes I agree I don't want a detritus trap or one that is so fine it is mush.

I think Caribsea has a nice range of sands, I selected their argonite range
which type is optimal?
http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/dry_aragonite.html

I was personally liking the bermuda pink

 

[namxas]

The Bermuda pink is a bit coarse, and I think you might end up the same as CC. Personally, I'd go with the Flamingo Reef which is 1mm - 2mm in grain size.