what type of substate

by **jeff** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:27 am

I had a friend bring back sand from Clearwater Florida.Its enough for my 30m gal tank . The question is about the grain size. Its almost like powder,can I use this our should I go with a larger grain for eazier cleaning of debri

by **angus4481** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:04 am

its silica sand, its good to use if you like the look. when i started, i bought a bag of silica sand from home depote(the stuff you use for sand blasting), and added it to my live sand. its a really fine sand and it glimmers in the light. one thing that sucks bout it, kinda makes a mess. but thats because i have a fish that likes to burrow.( the little bastard!). other wise it looks good with livesand.

how did it get transported? plastic bag, sack, container?

by **snowboss** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:24 am

is there any issue with the silica sand being "sharp" I like the look of very fine sand -- i have arag-live sand now which is reasonably fine but I would like it finer yet ....but I'm going to have sand sifting Goby's down the road and I don't want them hurting themselves on "sharp" sand, ???? your thoughts???? Boss

by **angus4481** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:11 am

silica sand is like powder, might be the finest sand that i found yet. its not sharp in any means. i mixed it 50/50 with livesand, and i like it. you might want to do 75/25, if you like the fine look. no mater what though, leave some livesand mixed.

by **saltwaterpimp** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:52 pm

algae loves silica. and most freshwater guys use this. i think its a bad idea..imo.i would stick with aragonite or livesand. jeff..did they get the sand off the beach?or in the water?also silica has sharp edges they may not be sharp toyou but your gobbies will suffer down the road.also the finer the sand the more it will pack..

by **dick_headers** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:19 pm

Agree with Pimp+ you'll have to use all kinds of chemical buffers to get your Ph above 7.8. Silicate won't buffer at all. Been there, done that. I had it about 3 years ago in my 55G set up. 20 lbs of aragonite+ 30 lbs of silicate sand (AKA beach sand). Always had alkalinity and Ph problems. Then I changed the whole substate for 60 lbs of Aragonite. About 10 days later my Alk. and Ph stabilized and never had to deal with buffers anymore. Algaes and silicates are friends forever, indeed SWP:-)

by **jeff** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:18 pm

thea sand is from the dry part of the beach

by **jeff** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:22 pm

it was exported by car in 2 plastic bags. I think since this is going too be my first sw tank ...I should use aragonite for now to help all my levels ( ph and so on) until I learn more about ws. Thanks to you guys I am much smarter than a week ago

by **angus4481** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:02 pm

ya i will agree, it does pack. i just like the look myself, and now that you mention it, algea comes and goes. jeff, now that they mention it, argonite might be the way to go. they might even change my mind on this one

by **jeff** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:18 am

thanks alot guys

what type of substate

10 posts