Substrate...HHMMm..

[carorella88]

Okay,,,, I have never been so excited about dirt in my whole life!! J/k.... Anyway, I just bought two twenty pound bags of nice aragonite sand.. It is really nice looking, a mix of black sand and grey.... Anywaym the bags were expensive,,, like 20 bucks apeice!! So I was wondering if it will work just as well as a live sand bed if I mix the sugar grained sand, with bigger grained less expensive gravel, by the by I have a 46 gallon,,, Any Help Would Be Great !!!!!! Please!!! Thanks!!

 

[cap'n pete]

I guess it would depend on what you mean by gravel. You definately need the smallest grain size possible (more surface area per square inch). I found some really small stuff that was pretty cheap and added it to mine. Of course LS or aragonite is better than anything else you are going to get but I understand price is an issue.

 

[carorella88]

Is the colored gravel for freshwater okay? My guess would be no, so I was thinking along the lines of some crushed coral or something, but will a caorser grain make it impossible to have a live sand bed??

 

[byrself]

i would say no on the colored gravel. i think the paint will come off alot quicker in saltwater and cause probs. even if it doesn't, i still wouldn't want it in my tank. but, then again, it's your choice.
i would stick to the aragonite sand. it is beneficial to your tank altogether. a good alternative sand is southdown. you can get it cheap if you can find it. good luck.

 

[cap'n pete]

40lbs is a good start toward your DSB (it is for the 46G in your profile right?). Yes, you could go for crushed coral, although some people hate it (claim the sharp edges cut fish and inverts). If you mixed something else small (and natural) with what you have, it may be alright. I don't have adequate depth for my DSB and plan on adding Southdown playsand if I can ever find it. I have a mix of aragonite sand and some small stuff I found at the LFS (don't know what it was called). The sand bed is functioning fine even though it is a little shallow (plenty of life and nitrogen bubbles). Just go with the smallest grain size you can find and get a good 4 to 5 inches of substrate. I also would never tell anybody to use that colored gravel for anything!

 

[fshhub]

southdown is great, i love it and do not regret a thing, but if you cannot get it or a reasonably priced aragonite, get quickrete sand, it is fine, may be silica, but it works fine(aned is 50 lbs ofr like 3$)
and i would not use any gravel, colored or otherwise, go for the smaller grains, trust me(sand and gravel do not mix well)
hth

 

[carorella88]

dang,,,, of well, I was nt expecting to be able to use it..... Anyway, ya, I have been searching like mad for southdown, but cannot find the darn stuff ANYWHERE!!! Not to mention the aragonite I have found is about 20 bucks a bag,, Only 20 lb. bags too...... But,, I might as well do it right the first time around!!Sigh. Thanks Guys!!

 

[carorella88]

HEY!!! Thats really cool cuz' the sand I bought is carib. sea aragonite!!! Spiffy,,,,, and I just bought it because it was pretty!!! J/K

 

[dogman]

Per Dr. Ron Shimek you need sand size of .050 to .150 for the best sand bed, and I am still trying to find some that has some sand critters in it.

 

[ed r]

Aragonite sand comes in various sizes. Make sure to read the label so you don't end up with the larger sizes. One good one is labeled sugar-size. Go to their (caribsea) web site and look at the product catalog. You will see various Aragonite based products. Smaller is better, and probably much more important than the material. That is why it is now accepted that very fine grain silica sand will work. Aragonite is a very good material, but just watch the size you get.
Also Dr. Shimek's recommended sizes are in millimeters. Don't make the mistake of thinking .15" particles are any good!