New Setup

jdj72

jdj72

New Member
I am in the process of switching my 150 gallon tank from freshwater to salt with live rock and fish. After draining and cleaing the the tank (with hot water only) I put a 6-7 inch bed made up of 250 lbs silica sand, 60 lbs live aragonite sand, and 80 lbs of aragonite sand. I plan to put a good protein skimmer and 200+ lbs of live rock. I already have a canister filter and power heads. Before I go any further with this tank, was the sand a mistake? should it be all aragonite? I have read so much that goes everyway, I would like to hear what other people with this much sand are using. Any help would be great.
 
seaham358

seaham358

Member
6-7" damn thats a lot of sand. IMO 3-4 would be plenty.
Canister filter IMO will not cut it. A sump or wet/dry would be your best option.
Also if your going to stay with a Fish only tank you may want to cut back on some of the LR. Leave room for all the fish to swim.
silica sand is no good, I used Southdown/old castle play sand from the Home Depot in my FOWLr and it has worked out well. $6 for a 50 lb bag.
 
ty_05_f

ty_05_f

Active Member
Silica sand is not bad but aragonite is better, it won't cause ammonia spikes or mess anything up.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
That does seem like a heck of a lot of sand. If you don't get good enough water flow through the sand, you will get hydrogen sulfide. bad...
 
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