Silica sand

Alan said:
Would agree here, i have a silica bed that has been running for 4yrs and have about 62 fish in the system now with my nitrates sitting at about 3ppm
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I also agree with these statements. Also much of the sand on our coasts is Silica based. Silica sand is also a silica chemical hard case in terms of dissolution. If we accept that water is a universal solvent and that it will dissolve most chemicals (at differing rates), then silica sand is so hard to dissolve the water would dissolve glass faster, I don't see us all running around setting up acrylic aquariums :)

An aceptable size of grain according to Shimek and Calfo would be in the 0.2mm to 2mm range (but others can be used, it depends on what you want to achieve really). Differing sizes of grain generally 'breed' different organisms in respect of this grain size, copepods.
The other advantage of smaller grain sizes is that you require a shallower bed to effect NNR. AT this size you would get nitrate reduction from about 7.5cm deep.

Hope this helps,
F

PS beach sand is what I use, shape of grain does play a role in sandbeds, grain shapes that cause compaction and or stratification?? may coase issues (definitely compaction) beach sand does not compact easily (at all?) :). Just wash your beach sand throughly for contaminants!!!!!
 
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Len said:
Would it then be beneficial to setup a DSB with different vertical zones of grain size to improve diversity of organisms?
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Maybe, but I dont think so cause if your large grains are at bottom (where there is less oxygen) you may not get any organisms there at all apart from bacteria.

But maybe this will work if you do different grain sizes horizantally, not vertically eg. bigger grain on left, medium sized inmiddle, and smaller on right, working from left to right.
 
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palmerc said:
But maybe this will work if you do different grain sizes horizantally, not vertically eg. bigger grain on left, medium sized inmiddle, and smaller on right, working from left to right.
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Yupp thats what i'm going to do. Guys do you suggest running lights 24x7, normally or reverse over the fuge?
 
durban guys!!from which beach have you guys collected sea sand?
 
doonside, umdloti (which I believe was a bad thing to do)
 
palmerc said:
Maybe, but I dont think so cause if your large grains are at bottom (where there is less oxygen) you may not get any organisms there at all apart from bacteria.

But maybe this will work if you do different grain sizes horizantally, not vertically eg. bigger grain on left, medium sized inmiddle, and smaller on right, working from left to right.
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Copperband said:
Yupp thats what i'm going to do. Guys do you suggest running lights 24x7, normally or reverse over the fuge?
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Hi Palmer, I was going to say the exact same thing Zones eg front left one size; front right another and so forth.

Copperband, I think (maybe someone has a different experience?) only Caulerpa can handle 24/7 lighting. Other algaes need a definitive respiratory cycle i.e. day -inhale co2 and exhale o2 and reversed for night time.

Collecting sand, a really good place to collect some LS (if this interests you) is at Vetchies Pier, check weather services for the next spring tide to make the job easier. Either side of the blocks has lovely open sand areas. You need a general collecting permit ( I think that allowed you X (30??) kgs of sand a day) you really only need a small amount to start of with, as long as there is no predation on the organisms even 500g could take you far.
Not sure if this is still possible (crayfish at Vetchies is a no-no), check with your local Post Office.
If you can get hold of a copy of Reef Invertebrates (Calfo and Fenner) and reference the whole sand thing it might be useful to you.
 
I bought the sugar fine aragonite for my DSB.. 3 bags @ something like R250 a bag.. I was very dissapointed that I only got about 7 - 8cm of DSB so I mixed it 50 / 50 with silca so it is now 16cm and it is working very well. I will top up with aragonite every 6 months or so..

Muz
 
Muz there is nothing wrong with using a mixture if the budget is limited.
 
Dear Muz,

Yes actually, I do the same thing, about 75% beach sand in the bottom with 25 aragonite at the top, I like the whiter look of the AM aragonite. They are quite smiliar in size though.

No problem doing whatever you want in the end. At least we get educated along the way to know the benefits and drawbacks of any one choice :)
 
Well my Caulerpa is under 24/7 4000k Florecent tubes and they are doing well. Just remember to trim if you do use Caulerpa else they will go sexual on ye
 
Fickie said:
An aceptable size of grain according to Shimek and Calfo would be in the 0.2mm to 2mm range (but others can be used, it depends on what you want to achieve really). s!!!!!
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As a test, I tried to measure the sand on the building site next door, a ruler does not work. How do you measure grain size?

Would it be illegal to bring beach sand back from Mozambique?
 
Len said:
As a test, I tried to measure the sand on the building site next door, a ruler does not work. How do you measure grain size?

Would it be illegal to bring beach sand back from Mozambique?
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The easiest way to measure sand particle size is to line up 100 sand grains end to end. Then measure the length of the line with a ruler, divide by 100 and you will get average grain size.

HTH,
Clinton:lol:
 
LOL! Mille you can't be serious either could you? Then again you are Millepora!

Len, I don't really know if you're serious either. In case you are, what I have done is measure a larger grain (the sea sand I have was not of an exact uniform size) and then decided that everything smaller was fine, as it fell in the 0.2mm to 2mm range i.e. the grain must still be heavy enough to form a bed and not until it is silt that will just cloud the water when it is blown around. I'm not sure my definition of silt here is correct but it explains a concept...

Palmer, i know that one day Millepora is going to find a reason to use your suggestion :GEEK:

Someone brought me sand from Mozzie once, enough for a 5lt nano :whistling:. He didn't really hide it, find out on your way in. It was a beautiful colour and extremely fine (you can go shallower on your DSB using this say 8cm, shallower would be by trial and error) . I prefer a slightly larger grain in the main tank, that doesn't blow around too much, cos I still like DSB's in the main tank, even in SPS dominant ones...
 
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