will this work for DSB???

[scubanole]

I am thinking seriously about changing my CC to a DSB. I don't know if I can get southdown at the homee depot near me?? I know I can get the quikcrete play sand. will 150 lbs of the quickcrete and 20 pounds of live sand work?Calculated I should have 156 lbs for 5 inch bed. right now I have no fish in the tank, but I do have about 20 lbs of LR, shrimp, and feather duster. Will they be OK. Also do I move the LR out of the way and then back on the sand or do I build the sand around the LR? I would think you would move the rock but i want to be sure. Thanks in advance.

 

[info_sponge]

Well, let me try this one. I don't have any experience, but from everything I have read...
You keep the LR where it is and just lay the sand in. This gives the LR a more stable base and prevents undersand critters from burrowing and causing a rockslide killing something or damaging your tank.
As far as the sand question, I couldn't tell ya anything other than ... the reason everyone wants the southdown is that it doesn't contain any silicates.. Make sure this sand you are looking at doesn't either. Silicates = bad news in aquariums.
If I'm wrong tell me, just testing out my reading comprehension skills.

 

[bbreaux1]

its not really the silicates its more that SD is aragonite sand and is real fine. ive heard of people using quickcrete with no problems that ive heard of.

 

[biggdriver]

Definitely remove the cc substrate..It will cause more problems in the long run..I have used 100% silica sand in a 40 breeder and it seemed to do alright...Argonite sand might hold the alkalinity better..Never really compared the 2..Anyone??Surely though I would remove the cc..The size of the particles is way to big ..You want the bottom layer to be rid of oxygen and this material won't compress like you want..It also collects a lot of detritus and other junk you don't want

 

[biggdriver]

I'm sure I'll probably get shot down on the silica sand..But like I said It seemed to work for me..

 

[kris walker]

Hey, whatever works bigdriver. I'm glad to hear that regular sand can be used as well without dire consequences.
sam

 

[superdust]

Hey scubanole i couldn't find southdown any where here in KY so i just kept looking around at the different lumber yards and found a sand by Bowerland (i think that was the name) but it said it was an aggregate based sand. However, it did have alot of small rocks that i screened out just to make the bed more compact.....just look around and see what you can find.

 

[wally]

The quickcrete sand works GREAT!! Its also major BS that silicate sand releases silica into the water. The glass that your tank is made out is the same substance as the sand. The sand is more properly called quartz and quartz is one of the hardest substances known to man and does not dissolve in water.

 

[mal]

Wally is right on. Silicate sand will not harm your tank, if you practice good reef keeping and watch your water chem. you should have no problems with any substrate you use.
The main thing when considering sand is the grain size. The other debate is whether aragonite helps with buffering. One theory is that the aragonite will dissolve in the tank, thus helping with buffering. The other theory, which I agree with, is that it will not dissolve because the ph is too high in the tank. If it did dissolve readily in the tank, why would we put aragonite in Ca reactors and use Co2 to lower the ph in the chamber? Why would we add Ca and buffer supplements if we had aragonite sand?
Another theory is that in the deepest part of the sand bed, where oxygen is not present, or at least is at very low levels, the aragonite actually does dissolve, but not enough to have any real effect on the over all water chemistry of the tank.
I used 100# silicate playsand in my FO tank and 20# of natures ocean (aragonite). I have had no problems with water chem. or algae at all. I think it has more to do with personal preference and myth than anything else.

 

[beth]

The supposed problem with silica-based sands is that silica is a food source for diatoms...this is why it is suggested that silica sand should not be used...to avoid major diatom blooms. There is ongoing debate suggesting yay or nay on this issue, as you can see here. In any case, diatoms are not harmful to aquaria and they are a primary food source for many of the creatures that you will be additing if you setup a DSB.

 

[wally]

Right on Beth and Mal very good points ,
And for a real tank example, I set up my new 55 with 3 bags of quickcrete sand the day after Christmas and 24 days later I have ZERO diatoms in my tank. I know my tank is still in the cycle process but if the silicate sand is so bad my tank should be covered with them right now but they are not. In fact this tank is perhaps the most stable tank I have ever set up. In addition to the sand I have 50# of dry (dead) aragonite from the Bahamas, seeded with 1 pound of Fiji rubble rock, 1 pound of Florida rubble rock, and 1 pound of Tonga branch rock. I also added about 2 pounds of good "live" sand from a good LFS. I put in 3 lyretail mollies the day after I set up the tank and a week later after seeing no ammonia in the tank I added 6 yellow tail damsels. So I have had 3 fish in the tank for 23 days and 9 in there for 16 days. The ammonia now barely shows up at all on two test kits and the higest it ever was, was a little over 1ppm. I am at the point where I can almost say that my tank is fully cycled and I have zero diatoms or algae for that matter. The sad thing is I want to see some diatoms and algae so I can start adding things like snails which I dearly love but I can't until I get some alage in there for them to eat.

 

[miner]

Hey to all that used the Quikcrete
What size did you use?? I see 3 different sizes. Coarse, Medium, and fine. I didn't see no difference really in the medium and fine. I am going to try it too. Let me know what to get please. <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />

 

[mal]

Shrimp,
I would go with as fine a grain as you can. There will be some largerr grains in as wel, but as long as the majority is smaller grained, it should be fine.

 

[justinl]

You know I went with quickcrete play sand and I for one didn't like the brown, mud-like color I got. I spent an hour cleaning out 50lbs from my tank just to go out and spend more money on what I should have bought in the first place- carib sea. Did anyone else get a brown muddy mush? It didn't look lie it when it was dry (was the color of fiji pink). boy was I fooled. <img src="graemlins//silly.gif" border="0" alt="[silly]" />