Sand/crushed coral question

[terrance]

I have a 40 gallon tank with about 40 pounds of crushed coral. My nitrates have been really high, like around 80. I cant get it down, even with water changes, and its hard for me to vaccum the crushed coral without moving my live rock, so it is a hassle. I was gonna switch to a deep sand bed. I bought 40 pounds of CaribSea argonite sand and was planning on getting a 20 pound bag of live sand. I noticed that the Caribsea sand is the about the the same size as my crushed coral. Is that a problem? Is CaribSea a good sand to use? If it is the same size, i dont see the effect it will have versus crushed coral, since waste will get trapt in it as well. Please any help would be appreciated, i will change it out once i find out if this is ok to use.

 

[terrance]

I couldnt find a sugar size, is the one i'm using ok?

 

[terrance]

It says its seafloor grade reef sand. ANybody?

 

[astroclown]

How thick is your bedding right now? I prefer to have atleast 2"-3" in thickness. You can switch to smaller grain of sand, but its alot of hassle. I would just leave the crushed corals and just add some good quality sand(eg.aragamax sugar sand). Just add the sand on top of your crushed corals, but remove your rocks before you add it. It should take 3-5days before it clears, and dont need to vacuum your sand everytime you clean your tank. Just leave your rocks and sand alone, because it upsets your set up.
When I do water change I dont syphon my bedding, it gets too cloudy and it sucks the sand out. I leave the rock and sand alone, I remove about 25% water and add water back to the right level. I check my salt level and add salt into my bucket of water I'm adding. I do this about once a month, but usually I just top it off with water that I had saved 3days before.

 

[terrance]

Will a dsb of larger grains be ok? If i add the sand on top of the crushed coral will waste still get trapped in between it? I want to lower my nitrates as they are too high. The lfs told me to add the sand on top of the crushed coral as well, but i have heard that was a bad idea. I'm so confused.

 

[karajay]

My sand is a larger grain than sugar, but still way smaller than CC. My sand bed is only about 2" (if that). No nitrates.
I would avoid piling sand on top of CC. Eventually, the sand will settle and the CC will work it's way back to the top. You'll be left with a mess that you have no way of cleaning.
In my opinion, don't rinse your sand. The fine particles that cloud it up will give the bacteria something to cling to. Instead of dumping dry sand in your tank, cure it in a bucket or rubbermaid. That way when you add it to the tank, it will sink without giving you a sandstorm.

 

[terrance]

So I should use the larger grains of sand or return it and look for a smaller one?I think i should just get rid of the crushed coral to lower my nitrates. When putting it in nylon stockings, should i clean then nylon first? It would seem that they would have some harmful chemicals in them.

 

[125intx]

Home Depot and Toys R Us has the SouthSide play sand. If you live in Texas you are SOL if you want it. I get my sand from Pets Mart. $16 for 20lbs. Thats half what the LFS sells it for.

 

[petem]

I was told the only negative thing (and it's very slight) about sugar sized sand is that, every time a fish passes close by, or acclerates suddenly, it would disturb the sand.

 

[stryder]

Okay, I'm just about to get y tank up and running, I was going to put CC in, but do you all prefer sand, even just the stuff from Home Depot? Let me know and maybe I can take back the CC.
Stryder:hilarious

 

[petem]

In my opinion, i like the look of sand better than CC. It just reminds me more of that "under the sea" look (with apologies to the little mermaid)

 

[terrance]

Ok, so are there any disadvanatages to having a dsb made of larger grains of argonite sand? If it is as effective as a regular dsb, then i'll go for it. Oh by the way i live on the west coast and i believe southdown is not available here.

 

[mouse03245]

I just switched from cc to ls and I did wash out the nylons...just let them soak in really hot water and rinse them out with hot water. I made 4-5 little bags of it and so far so good.

 

[clint_reno]

Thanks to this forum, I have started my first SW tank with a dsb. I am glad I did, 'cause it looks great. It consists of about 2.5 inches of semi-rinsed white playsand, with a 10lb bag of ls on top as seeding. The water was a bit cloudy, but cleared up within two-three days.

 

[cprdnick]

Originally posted by 125inTX
Home Depot and Toys R Us has the SouthSide play sand. If you live in Texas you are SOL if you want it. I get my sand from Pets Mart. $16 for 20lbs. Thats half what the LFS sells it for.
What kind of sand are you getting from petsmart? is it that stuff they have in the 4 foot wide section of SW supplies?