300 Gallon Tank Substrate Media Poll

[CaseyP]

Long term users of crushed coral. Did you ever get coraline algae growing on it? When I considered crushed coral I was afraid of a white bottom turning to purple or green.

I'm a special grade sand user for the aesthetic reasons of having a nice white sandy bottom. I'm also the type of person that scrapes the back glass so it's all black.

 

[H2OPlayar]

Long term users of crushed coral. Did you ever get coraline algae growing on it? When I considered crushed coral I was afraid of a white bottom turning to purple or green.

I'm a special grade sand user for the aesthetic reasons of having a nice white sandy bottom. I'm also the type of person that scrapes the back glass so it's all black.

Check out pics of my 168 near the end. It got some growth, but didn't turn solid purple

 

[robert4025]

That’s for anaerobic areas where oxygen is very low where anaerobic bacteria can survive using nitrate or sulfate to respire versus oxygen. Sand needs to be at least 3-4” deep to produce these areas. Most sand beds nowadays are less than 2” for that reason.

You obviously haven’t talk to enough fellow reefers. Come join my team for a few months and you’ll realize how little the average hobbyist knows about the correct thickness of sand. So, the safer advice is to tell people not to stir their sand. Obviously, you may be the exception but generally speaking, it’s not a good idea to tell people to do it.

 

[RandyC]

You obviously haven’t talk to enough fellow reefers. Come join my team for a few months and you’ll realize how little the average hobbyist knows about the correct thickness of sand. So, the safer advice is to tell people not to stir their sand. Obviously, you may be the exception but generally speaking, it’s not a good idea to tell people to do it.

To each their own. I’d rather arm people with the science and the facts and let them make their decision instead of keeping them in the dark.

 

[JVU]

Robert and his crew are servicing thanks for and talking to a lot of less experienced reefers. Some are not even really hobbyists, just want a nice living picture in their house. So he needs to keep his advice more in the idiot-proofing range to keep people from nuking their tanks and blaming him and his company.

Randy and most of us are more into the science and details, and are safer to give the full story to and let the user decide. Plus we are taking care of our own tanks, with more personal experience than folks who have someone service their tanks.

It’s just a difference in perspectives.

 

[JVU]

I like sand, mostly for the aesthetics. Also I like sand-dwelling critters. I keep my bed thin, like 0.5-1 inch. It drifts up a little deeper in some places. Some areas I let go bare with flow because it gives a place for some coral to be safely when I’m fragging or moving stuff around.

The main advantage of larger crushed coral in my opinion is that mushrooms and zoas that come loose can re-attach easily and be ready to re-place or share. If you have a relatively small number of crushed coral or just old coral pieces on the sand it serves the same purpose, but not as nice looking.

 

[SupraSaltyReefer]

Certainly you'd want a bigger divider section then this, but here's what I did

View attachment 57155
View attachment 57156

Smart idea for the baffles, I would suggest making the baffles twice as tall because when the wrasses does their tornado spin dive into the sand it’s going to fly everywhere. In my SR60 I used both sand towards the rear of the tank and large crushed coral media towards the front since I kept a bunch of wrasses and shrooms and softies.

Another idea is to print a wrasse den. I came up with the design and @ashburn2k printed it for me. It’s kinda obnoxious looking lol, but worked great for the wrasses in my bb display tank and kept sand inside.

 

[fishy408]

Anyone have experience with Two Little fishes Reborn as substrate?

 

[H2OPlayar]

Anyone have experience with Two Little fishes Reborn as substrate?

That is what I use and love it. It is in the 300 now.

 

[iCon]

Smart idea for the baffles, I would suggest making the baffles twice as tall because when the wrasses does their tornado spin dive into the sand it’s going to fly everywhere. In my SR60 I used both sand towards the rear of the tank and large crushed coral media towards the front since I kept a bunch of wrasses and shrooms and softies.

Another idea is to print a wrasse den. I came up with the design and @ashburn2k printed it for me. It’s kinda obnoxious looking lol, but worked great for the wrasses in my bb display tank and kept sand inside.

View attachment 57248

My wrasses would love their own star destroyer.