Substrate, fine or coarse?

RiaanP

RiaanP

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So which is best for substrate?

Aragonite - Expensive
Play sand - must be washed like 100 times, very fine
Beach sand - natural, real thing, Yeah I live in Gauteng...
Crushed Coral - coarse like rice.

Split it into two groups, Best for Display Tank and best for DSB.

My conclusion.
The bigger the substrate are, the more rubbish it will trap. Too coarse - no good for DT

But is coarse better for DSB?
But then this afternoon my LFS said play sand is not OK for DT. WHY? Or does this come down to personal preference?:suspicious:

I had another post out on getting sea sand to Gauteng, and if anybody else done it. - Nobody, so it seems sea sand is out...
Please all Durban, Cape Town and PE and other lucky guys that can get sea sand on a Sunday afternoon trip, please do not recommend sea sand.:(
 
Aragonite - =SUGAR FINE will work the best for dsb, will looks very nice in dt too
Play sand - cheaper and also good for dsb
Beach sand - natural, real thing, = need to take a drive down and collect below the wter mark at the rocks, pros= live sand and you get to swim in the sea cons= too damn far
Crushed Coral - coarse like rice.= good for dt
 
I take it then that the Beach sand would be good for DT and DSB ?
 
Hecco,

IMO, don't use coarse CC. Doesn't look that nice (again IMO) and traps detritus. Finer is better but the finer you go the more likely you are that pumps would blwo it all over the show. Suger fine Araginite is best for both if it weren't for the price. Lots of guys then opt for playsand becuse it's cheaper. It's of ideal size.

So basically you should be asking yourself, can I afford aragonite. Only if not, use playsand.
 
The bigger the particles the deeper the DSB needs to be to get anarobic activity and the more detritis can settle inbetween. The advantage of a more coarse substrate is that pods can breed and hide in the spaces inbetween.
The finer, the less water flow and oxygen through the particles - doesn't need to be too deep, especially if very very fine. Aragonite looks nice, but in my opinion is not worth the price for what it does. It doesn't give the buffering capacity as some LFS's claim. Maybe there are some that's for real? You can use reggies play sand if you're on a tight budget, just wash it... umm...ja, 100 times :p
 
Sorry RiaanP for jumping in here but hopefully you will get an answer aswell.

I have the oppertunity to get nice fine or coarse beach sand so I must just choose. The biggest reason for me is that I can get some live Beach sand aswell so please help in selecting the right sand.:thumbup:

I was thinking nice fine (live) beach sand for the DT and ditto for the DSB?? or am I missing it completely?
 
gecco said:
Sorry RiaanP for jumping in here but hopefully you will get an answer aswell.

I have the oppertunity to get nice fine or coarse beach sand so I must just choose. The biggest reason for me is that I can get some live Beach sand aswell so please help in selecting the right sand.:thumbup:

I was thinking nice fine (live) beach sand for the DT and ditto for the DSB?? or am I missing it completely?
Click to expand...

You can use the fine one for both DT and DSB. That's what most guys do.

1) Sand in the DT is just for asthetic purposes - it doesn't work as a DSB if only 25-50mm thick. If too coarse it will trap uneaten food and fish poo and can cause high nitrates later on which is bad for your corals and good for nuicance algae.
2) DSB need fine sand to minimize oxygen and water flow for the anarobic activity to help break down nitrates into nitrogen.
3) I would say you can use more coarse sand in a refugium if connected after the sump. Because you don't really feed a refugium and the tank water was skimmed and ran over the DSB for detritis to settle before it reaches the refugium anyway, so you shouldn't have problems with crap settling in the coarse particles. But your pods will have a place to breed and party ;)
 
Some awesome advice there Tobes!!:thumbup:
 
cool thanx Tobes :thumbup::thumbup:
 
I forgot the refugium. Thanks Tobes.
Gecco, must get wet sand from below the low level mark. Depending on you tanksize, mine 1.5 by 600 for dept of 50mm gives me 45 liters of wet sand plus another 16 odd for the DSB.
That is :angry: heavy to get all the way to Gauteng.
 
That is :angry: heavy to get all the way to Gauteng.
Click to expand...

and it is all the way from Jeffreys bay to Alberton under 24 hours after harvesting, Hey I want it as fresh as posible :lol::lol:

Amazing what people will do for some personal petrol, :whistling::whistling:

I think that I'm going to get 20lt worth and that should be enough...
 
you really dont need to wash it 100 times i washed mine 6 times and it was clean. Play sand that is. Just wash a little at a time in a nich big dish gets cleaner quicker
 
on the playsand bag it says...washed playsand...but once you add some water it looks like coffee:p.....yip those guys really washed the sand before they bagged it:lol:
 
Yes, it got a foam a Cappuccino will be jealous of.
But I bought my sand at Newlands garden Center. R40 for a very heavy bag. I reckon about 50kg.
When I do it again I will put the bag on the bathroom scale, when my wife is not looking...;)
 
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