Is a sand bed "just" a sand bed?

[eric b 125]

I feel that there are some financial corners that can be cut in this hobby, like buying base rock rather than live rock (there are obviously merits to both other than the economics). I'm all about getting quality equipment and I've learned that there are some corners that can't or shouldn't be cut as well.
I'm in the process of piecing together the bits of a 200DD build that I'm going to start in a few months and I'm fixin to order 160lbs of coarse sand from MarcoRocks. I know some folks have had success with play sand from Home Depot, but I'm not going to go that route. What is it about the more expensive sands, which can be considerably more expensive, that makes it a better choice aside from being live and probably not needing rinsed as well as the dead sand I'm looking at?

 

[acrylic51]

Agree....although I see no real merit into buying LR per say. Base rock will turn to LR with patienceso save the cash....Sand on the other hand I feel the same way a cup or 2 of LS will seed sand. Not sure if I'm a fan of a mixed bed as your suggesting though. What is your purpose for such?

 

[2quills]

Play sand from home depot is silicate sand or essentially quartz. It's a far more common product.
Aragonite sand is essentially limestone. It has buffering benefits for reefers that silicate sand doesn't have.

 

[acrylic51]

True as far as the difference between play sand and araganite sand but we actually see very little buffering affects from araganite sand in our systems.

 

[bang guy]

In a shallow sand bed there is nearly zero amount of buffering. In a deep sand bed there can be quite a bit as the lower areas of the bed lower in PH.

Back in the day I did a long term experiment. I set up three tanks with different types of dry sand four inches deep. Each tank was fed from my display tank directly about the same amount of water. ambient lighting, no feeding.

The first picture is ground limestone, second is silica sand, third is oolitic sand. I did not include a tank with playsand because I feel it's detrimental to a marine system and didn't want to subject my display tank to it. The experiment ran about a year.

What you are seeing in the pictures is the sand against the glass.

 

[2quills]

Yep, I don't think you'll see much buffering benefits unless the ph drops below neutral levels. At that point the water becomes acidic and conditions would be right to dissolve th e carbonate mineral out of the sand or rock and into the water water column if I'm not mistaken.

 

[silverado61]

But the limestone can't provide a forever solution to buffering can it? I would think eventually it would deplete its buffering capacity or dissolve into nothingness.
Just guessing here. I could be totally off base. I'm mentioning this because I'm trying to decide what kind of sand and how deep to run in my display and sump. I'm putting DIY rock in the display so I'm really into reading this thread.
If will ever get it up and running that is. Taking longer than I thought.

 

[2quills]

I don't see it as a ph fixer. More like a safety net.

 

[eric b 125]

When I mentioned play sand, I was referring to the aragonite bulk sand that HD used to sell, not silicate sand. Also, I don't plan on mixing sands. Either way, I decided to use Carribsea Seaflor Special Grade, rather than MarcoRocks coarse.

 

[bang guy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by silverado61 http:///t/397771/is-a-sand-bed-just-a-sand-bed#post_3546739
But the limestone can't provide a forever solution to buffering can it? I would think eventually it would deplete its buffering capacity or dissolve into nothingness.
Just guessing here. I could be totally off base. I'm mentioning this because I'm trying to decide what kind of sand and how deep to run in my display and sump. I'm putting DIY rock in the display so I'm really into reading this thread.
If will ever get it up and running that is. Taking longer than I thought.

I have no solid information on this. But my lagoon had 2500 pounds of sand in it for a total of about 8 inches. When I tore it down there was only 6 inches of sand in it. 1/4 of 2500 pounds is about 600 pounds of sand that dissolved. I would guess that the deeper the sand bed the faster it would dissolve.

 

[2quills]

When I mentioned play sand, I was referring to the aragonite bulk sand that HD used to sell, not silicate sand.  Also, I don't plan on mixing sands.  Either way, I decided to use Carribsea Seaflor Special Grade, rather than MarcoRocks coarse.
Any particular reason for your choice?

 

[eric b 125]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/397771/is-a-sand-bed-just-a-sand-bed#post_3546799
Any particular reason for your choice?

Marco's coarse sand didn't have any decent reviews and in the picture on their website it doesn't appear to be uniform in size at all. It looks like sugar fine sand with CC mixed in. There is more info and reviews available on the Seaflor Special Grade sand and it is a larger than sugar fine grain, but it's uniform in size. I'm not planning on having tons of flow, but it will be an SPS dominated tank and I think I'm going to try for a pulsing gyre. With that kind of water movement I'd like to try and minimize sand from building up in certain areas.

 

[silverado61]

I was thinking 3-4 in the display, 2 in the sump max.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/397771/is-a-sand-bed-just-a-sand-bed#post_3546771
Quote:
Originally Posted by silverado61 http:///t/397771/is-a-sand-bed-just-a-sand-bed#post_3546739
But the limestone can't provide a forever solution to buffering can it? I would think eventually it would deplete its buffering capacity or dissolve into nothingness.
Just guessing here. I could be totally off base. I'm mentioning this because I'm trying to decide what kind of sand and how deep to run in my display and sump. I'm putting DIY rock in the display so I'm really into reading this thread.
If will ever get it up and running that is. Taking longer than I thought.

I have no solid information on this. But my lagoon had 2500 pounds of sand in it for a total of about 8 inches. When I tore it down there was only 6 inches of sand in it. 1/4 of 2500 pounds is about 600 pounds of sand that dissolved. I would guess that the deeper the sand bed the faster it would dissolve.
I was thinking 3-4 inches in the display. 2 inches in the refuge section of the sump max.

 

[eric b 125]

I'm thinking around 2" in the DT, none in the fuge