Which sand to get ?

D

drew930

New member
Just want some opinions on what sand to get for my next set up . Will be a 120 . I Used to get caribsea. Don't know if I should try something different . Was checking out premium aquatics and bulk reef supply . At BRS I see caribsea ocean direct, ocean direct special grade, Arag-Alive.... And at premium I see tropic Eden . Looking for something that's not sugar like . Will have 2 vortechs and some good flow , but hopefully something that's fine for gobies.

Any ideas ?
 
I got a great deal on the dry caribsea special grade aragonite from petco.com, I had to be a little patient but it was worth it. It's just "regular sand" not too big, not too fine, most of your diggers are happy with it (incl. gobies) and it buffers fine. I like how it resembles the sand where I snorkel.
 
another thumbs up for Caribsea. I used the fine 'live' sand. I love the look of it, but my blenny likes to thrash around, so I had to improvise (see my build thread for details). But yeah good product IMHO.
 
I just added a new Caribsea ocean direct sand bed to my new setup and could not be happier with it. I love the size, I love the blend -- nice stuff.
 
Used the Seaflor Special Grade in our 470 and 150.

Have to add a little crushed coral in areas that get too much flow though...
 
Just wanted some opinions . Think I got them ! Will probably go Caribsea Special Grade Ocean Direct . But will definitely check out other recommendations .

Thanks!
 
In my last 150g I had 4 vorts spinning full power, the seaflor grade did not blow around at all, but I do have my vorts bouncing off glass to help difuse that flow.
 
Not to hijack, but I didn't want to start a new thread either. But those of you who use the CaribSea Special Grade, do you believe it to be small enough for sand sifters? It sounds that way, but I just want to be sure before I order some. Thanks!
 
forddna said:
Not to hijack, but I didn't want to start a new thread either. But those of you who use the CaribSea Special Grade, do you believe it to be small enough for sand sifters? It sounds that way, but I just want to be sure before I order some. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Nver had an issue with my snails and gobies sifting the sand. Works and looks great.
 
Use Tropic Eden. I have 3 tanks set up with AragAlive and they took a while to clear. There was probably some "alive" but there was probably some "dead" in them. I never noticed any enhanced cycling from live sand and even BRS says what's in them may not be the bacteria you're waiting for.

With live sand you have to put the water in before the rocks, which is not conducive to a stable foundation. And you have to arrange them under water where your view is distorted and the water is cloudy.

With Tropic Eden dry sand and dry rock you can take all the time in the world to aquascape your tank and even try several different scapes. If you wash the dry sand thoroughly (which you can't do with live sand), you won't even have cloudy water when you add the water. I have one tank done with Tropic Eden dry sand. It was almost clean when I got it and very, very clean when I rinsed it. I never had to wait for the water to clear. And it's cheaper because you don't pay freight for water weight.

Dr. Tim's bacteria and ammonia cycled the tank in much less time that with live sand and it was the right kind of bacteria.
 
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