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Live Sand advice......

Kmooresf

Kmooresf

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Hey again,

I am working on the live rock situation in the tank (that will be another post later) and thinking about Sand. I currently have a 110 gallon tank with approx 3" of live sand.........a 65 gallon also with approx 3" of live sand. I have read on more than a few threads that some don't recommend using the same live sand for a new system. It seems to me that active live sand would be a good addition, however maybe a new system risks killing some of the sand and causing dead spots, etc??

What I was thinking was to put a base layer of an aragonite based sand in the new tank and then add the sand I have over the top to get it going. This would be done in stages as I will have to move the tanks one at a time, etc. So what do ya think. All new sand? Or can I keep the sand I have and just add some new stuff to it?

Also, I am planning to have an approx 6" DSB in my refugium. It's gonna be a large refugium...........approx 32" x 24" at 6" deep. What kind of sand do you recommend for a refugium? Same aragonite based, or something else. Anyone a fan of Mud?

Sorry for all the questions and posts. Hope I'm not driving you guys crazy. Just loving this resource / sounding board. Thanks!
 
Since it's a new sysyem, I would use new sand (Tropic Eden at Premimium Aquatics). Use a couple of scoops of your old sand to seed the main display and fuge and you're good to go.
 
LOL! I know Levi, right?? ;)

The 110 and the 65 are about 7 years old now. The 30 is over 10 and that sand is NOT going in the new tank for sure. It has gotten very thin.....basically a mud at this point.

Thanks Jim, I will check out the Tropic Eden stuff. Luckily Sand is not as expensive as the rock, so all new is really not a huge deal. I will probably go for around 2 - 3" bed for the display with the 6" in the Fuge.

You think the same sand for the fuge is the way to go?

I was thinking I would put some Egg crate on the bottom of the tank to hold the rocks a bit better. Any reason not too? Thanks.
 
I think using the same sand is fine. I used a mixture of grain sizes of the Topic Eden sand in the main display and some extra bags I had laying around for the fuge. I think acrylic pieces skewered w/ fiberglass rods would work better than eggcrate.
 
gimmito said:
I think using the same sand is fine. I used a mixture of grain sizes of the Topic Eden sand in the main display and some extra bags I had laying around for the fuge. I think acrylic pieces skewered w/ fiberglass rods would work better than eggcrate.
Click to expand...
I will check out Tropic Eden Sand. Thanks.

gimmito said:
I think acrylic pieces skewered w/ fiberglass rods would work better than eggcrate.
Click to expand...

@ Jim, can you give me more details on this. Can you buy this, or do you make it?

Thanks.
 
Kmooresf said:
gimmito said:
I think using the same sand is fine. I used a mixture of grain sizes of the Topic Eden sand in the main display and some extra bags I had laying around for the fuge. I think acrylic pieces skewered w/ fiberglass rods would work better than eggcrate.
Click to expand...
I will check out Marco Sand. Thanks.

gimmito said:
I think acrylic pieces skewered w/ fiberglass rods would work better than eggcrate.
Click to expand...

@ Jim, can you give me more details on this. Can you buy this, or do you make it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Tropic Eden is a brand, he's not talking about Marco Rocks sand :)
This is Tropic Eden: http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=TE-TE03616R30&Category_Code=
This is Marco Rocks sand: http://www.marcorocks.com/sand.aspx

See link for aquascaping supplies: http://www.marcorocks.com/aquascapesupplies.aspx
 
Gotta love Google. ;)

Kris,

I have some extra pieces of acrylic if you need any. Acrylic or fiberglass rods can be bought at Tap Plastics also. Closest one to you is in San Mateo if I'm not mistaken.
 
GreshamH said:
Kmooresf said:
gimmito said:
I think using the same sand is fine. I used a mixture of grain sizes of the Topic Eden sand in the main display and some extra bags I had laying around for the fuge. I think acrylic pieces skewered w/ fiberglass rods would work better than eggcrate.
Click to expand...
I will check out Marco Sand. Thanks.

gimmito said:
I think acrylic pieces skewered w/ fiberglass rods would work better than eggcrate.
Click to expand...

@ Jim, can you give me more details on this. Can you buy this, or do you make it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Tropic Eden is a brand, he's not talking about Marco Rocks sand :)
This is Tropic Eden: http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=TE-TE03616R30&Category_Code=
This is Marco Rocks sand: http://www.marcorocks.com/sand.aspx

See link for aquascaping supplies: http://www.marcorocks.com/aquascapesupplies.aspx
Click to expand...

Or perhaps no googling was necessary.....

Some of us can actually type urls to companies we've done business with for many years. ;)
 
Thanks Gresham,

My "Quote" skills on here aren't too good yet. LOL! I actually meant I would check out the Marco Sand. Very good prices and a great look to it. It is on the short list for sure.

Thanks Jim, I will look into it. So you simply take a piece of acrylic and drill a hole.....insert rod and glue? Did you make each section based on what rock you were useing? How tall did you make the rods? I guess what I am asking is...........are the rods strong enough to put in........say a 15" rod and drill the rock, set on the rod......etc. Is that how you used it, or was it just a bunch of rods at 1" that the rock sits on? Sry, just trying to visualize. LOL!
 
I agree with Jeremy that fiberglass rods are much more rigid (that's what I used for my setup). For smaller aquascaping you can use the acrylic rods like Marco Rock uses. Johnny (Jestersix) will be coming down tommorow to pick up some rock and help me with one last piece for the back of my tank. You can swing by and see what we're talking about (if you have time).
 
tuberider said:
I highly recommend using fiberglass rod over acrylic, not only is it much more rigid, it does not temper and become brittle.
Click to expand...

fully agree on that one. It just sucks we don't have a real winter around here so we can get the cheap snow signs with fiberglass rods :lol:

Meh, I'll take our weather over the cheaper fiberglass rods any day though :lol:
 
True... but where it snows, those suckers go on sale... I've seen guys get those for like a $1 a piece and they are like 6' tall.

How tall are the ones at HD?
 
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