Jestersix

Substrate / Sand

yosemiteclimber

yosemiteclimber

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What is you our preferred substrate and why? If you opt for no substrate (in display, not talking frag tanks here), what is your reasoning behind it? If you do have sand, how deep - and is there a particular grain size you like?

For some reason I'm drawn to the larger special grade from Caribsea, I like that the inversts (conch, nassarius, etc.) can easily cruise around underneath, keep I it churned without worry of pockets of nasty sitting there, brewing, stewing, just waiting to be disturbed and unleash pure NASTY in to the tank if (in)advertently disturbed.

It's a little tougher for certain sifting animals to deal with though, so that's one of the negatives I see. Thoughts?
 
Darkxerox said:
I've been using the special grade sand for awhile now and really like it. Wrasses sleep in it, snails/stars dig in it, holds up against medium flow, etc.
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I think this may have been part of my transition to coarser/heavier/larger grain sand - WAVEMAKERS! You end up with a pile of the finer stuff in a corner after it's been blasting around, clouding up the tank. This is even more noticeable in a nano.
 
I run crushed coral in 2 of my tanks. Main 32 biocube, and the 65 gallon. I also plan to most likey run crushed coral in the 200 gallon. I have a good bit of it but doubt it's enough for a 200gal tank. That's my plan if can I can find more at a decent price point to cover the short fall.

Neptunes has it for $6/7 a lbs just not affordable in larger quanties in bigger tanks at that price point.
 
In the 2 oldest systems in my care
They each have DSB of 4” (they are 8 and 17 years old
Without doing any chemistry testing, they seem to be the most stable

Caribsea sea floor special combined with #1 crushed coral sand
 
Kensington Reefer said:
In the 2 oldest systems in my care
They each have DSB of 4” (they are 8 and 17 years old
Without doing any chemistry testing, they seem to be the most stable

Caribsea sea floor special combined with #1 crushed coral sand
Click to expand...
Still hoping to one day see pictures or videos of these legendary tanks, and the amazing fish collection I've heard you have.
 
I have used 3 types of sand which means I had to sap out my sand bed twice in the last year!

ReefFlakes: Offwhite, medium or large grain size. Does not move despite relatively high tank flow. Primary con is that the larger grains of sand got discolored over time due to algae growth. Could not keep a sand sifting goby due to large grain size.

Caribsea Special Grade: Offwhite, small grain size. Great for wrasse and sand sifting goby. Primary con is the sand moves around a lot in a high flow tank. I woke up every day to large sand dunes and bald spots due to high flow tank. I eventually got tired of evening out the sand every day.

Aquaforest BioSand: Gleeming white, the smallest grain of the sand I have used. Great for wrasse and sand sifting goby. Does not move around due to high flow despite being smaller grain size than Caribsea Special Grade. I hypothesize this is because the shape of the individual grains of sand allows the sand to bind together a little bit more which keeps it from moving around. In terms of aesthetics, this sand looks the absolute best of the three sand I have used since I love the gleaming white look.

I highly recommend the Aquaforest Biosand. If you want to see what it looks like in a tank, take a look at the Viking Reefing video on maintaining a white sand bed. As stated in the video, this sand is "stupidly white". If you want your fish tank to look like a display tank in an Apple Store, this is the sand to go with:

 
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I was listening to a reef bum episode. Forgot who the guess was but he mentioned he adds the larger heavier sand to areas where the flow blows away the lighter stuff. So essentially he allows the flow to determine where he puts each type of sand instead of trying to mix different grain size.
 
The latest issue of Coral Magazine makes a strong case against bare bottom.

I like special grade - mixed with actual live ocean sand.

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I started this last tank with CS Special grade. I’ve been siphoning out the sand towards the front of the glass for aesthetic reasons. I don’t like seeing the algae that grows on the glass beneath the substrate surface line. The cuc eventually being up a thin layer of sand back up to cover the bare glass bottom and some algae grows there anyway for a more natural look still leaving a clean front pane. I found this grade sand to be best all around
 
I used crushed coral in my very first tank, wasnt a big fan of the look, and it was hard to stir it around and siphon it. Used oolitic sand on my next tank, and I loved the look, and read it had PH buffering capabilities, but even with my flow levels that werent anything crazy, sand blew around. Switched to half aragonite, half oolite, and that worked a lot better. Not sure what my current substrate is since it came with my tank, but its bigger pieces than aragonite, looks like a bunch of tiny shells and stuff, and I really like it. Always been 1-2 inches deep for all of my tanks.
 
I used caribsea special grade. I don’t have crazy flow but it is decently fast considering the water volume, and my sand stays put, no bald spots or even any divots.

But there’s a bunch of coral and rock pieces which probably slow the flow near the bottom of the tank

I put my wavemakers in the top half of the tank where the sticks are so maybe that has an impact as well. No wavemaker actually points downwards.
 
I use the special grade. I keep it thin so it’s easier to keep clean. It doesn’t blow around like into the water column, but it does get pushed over time and can leave bare spots when kept thin. Which I embrace and use as an area for coral that doesn’t like sand.
 
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