Sand

[olingerjccj]

Hi all this seems like a great site. I am getting ready tomorrow I am getting a 47 gal saltwater tank. My buddy is giving it to me. Ill give all the specifics when I get it. My question is about sand. I do have some live rock already but is live sand really important I am in no rush so i have some time. People tell me to create a 2 layer bottom layer of crushed coral and another layer of live sand. Do I have to do it this way? Also is play sand good if washed really good? Or just use the regular non live saltwater sand. Also is there a chemical to add to the non live sand to add some good stuff. Im sure I will have a lot more questions but this has been bugging me.
Thanks

 

[ibew41]

do not mix the 2 go with sand or cc most go with sand and get it from a local fish store

 

[airforceman]

Crushed coral is well...not the best way to go. You'll have some people on here arguing that it it pretty good but most will advise against it.
The best way to go if recieving a previously established tank is just to keep the established sand in there. If you want to add to the sand bed you're probably going to have to take out the fish and some corals.
If you do add new sand, I would suggest (forgot the brand name) but it's a sand specifically made for saltwater tanks. There are more than one brand of this sand and somebody here can probably fill me in on these brand names.
Now if you have a rather thick wallet you can go ahead and get Live Sand. It's a little more expensive but you don't have to be AS precautious as if you were getting regular sand.
And play sand is an option it's just not the best.
Hope that helped!!!

 

[natclanwy]

You don't need live sand it will become live over time and your live rock will help to accelerate this process. I would skip the crushed coral all together it is definetly not needed and can cause problems with your water quality. As far as playsand goes you wan't to look for aragonite sand and it is sometimes sold at homedepot but depends on where you live or just use the regular sand from the LFS. Silica sand is sometimes linked to diatom outbreaks but several people have used it successfully.

 

[cracker4418]

As stated earlyer,live rock will seed your so called dead sand.Silicasand will and i repeat will cause serious algea problems. aragonite is the only way to go. CRUSHED CORAL hides and holds pockets of waste witch turn in to nitrate and that turns in to dead fish.