Are you picky with your sand?

[DarkReefer]

So I've been looking for sand for my new build and whilst I can seem to find some stuff online, I've yet to be able to find anything in store that looked normal or familiar to me.

One place I went to had a heap of Aqua Medic Bali Sand (whilst I'd heard of Aqua Medic, I'd never heard of this substrate before), which I'm pretty sure was just crushed coral but it seemed fairly big and I'm not sure the wrasse would appreciate diving into that one?
Another one I went to had some sand that appeared to be a local product, this time from somewhere I've never heard of and whilst the grain size looked alright (could faintly see it through packaging), I couldn't see the actual colour of it through the packaging so it kind of put me off.

Is anyone else this picky when it comes to their substrate or am I just being ridiculous?

 

[JonoH]

I was heaps picky with mine, and the LFS ended up getting in a heap of the Carib-sea Aragonite for me, i am super happy with it.
My only complaint was the time it took to clean!

 

[JonoH]

So I've been looking for sand for my new build and whilst I can seem to find some stuff online, I've yet to be able to find anything in store that looked normal or familiar to me.

One place I went to had a heap of Aqua Medic Bali Sand (whilst I'd heard of Aqua Medic, I'd never heard of this substrate before), which I'm pretty sure was just crushed coral but it seemed fairly big and I'm not sure the wrasse would appreciate diving into that one?
Another one I went to had some sand that appeared to be a local product, this time from somewhere I've never heard of and whilst the grain size looked alright (could faintly see it through packaging), I couldn't see the actual colour of it through the packaging so it kind of put me off.

Is anyone else this picky when it comes to their substrate or am I just being ridiculous?

Besides...when your paying over $50 a bag for it, i think your allowed to be picky!

 

[Reefering1]

I'm not picky at all, I have some live(it was wet) sand from lfs, wet sand from 2 other established systems, even some sand from the keys(shhh;-) I like the variety of grain size and rubble, seems more natural to me

 

[Cscultho]

I’m so picky I removed all the sand from my tank! Don’t know when I will learn but sand is a Dino magnet for me. There is no way around the Dreaded Dino battle and the only way I’ve been able to beat it the past two times is no substrate. Now my tank is crystal clear and all my coral are thriving and happy.

 

[dschuffert]

I like CaribSea Aragonite and use that on all my tanks.

 

[DarkReefer]

I was heaps picky with mine, and the LFS ended up getting in a heap of the Carib-sea Aragonite for me, i am super happy with it.
My only complaint was the time it took to clean!

Yeah the CaribSea aragonite stuff is what I'm quite sure I've had in the past and always been pretty happy with the grain size etc.

Besides...when your paying over $50 a bag for it, i think your allowed to be picky!

This is exactly right. It's so expensive for the stuff I don't just want to put whatever crap the LFS has left over in stock in the tank. I've spent what I consider to be a lot on the tank and equipment so far and I don't want to just half butt the sand part.

I'm not picky at all, I have some live(it was wet) sand from lfs, wet sand from 2 other established systems, even some sand from the keys(shhh;-) I like the variety of grain size and rubble, seems more natural to me

I completely understand where you're coming from regarding the natural look.
I've considered possibly reusing my existing sand whilst buying more to fill the tank but I worry I'm just going to open things up to bacteria issues or something... too despite that my existing sand will probably more or less go to waste once that tank shuts down, so Idk..

 

[Reefering1]

You can wash/ clean/ sanitize your old sand(assuming you were happy with its composition/ grain size) and still use it. The live sand I got from lfs was bagged on shelf, wet and had stuff crawling around in it. Idk if things are different now... I unknowingly poured sand into tank of water. It was cloudy for days, but filter socks removed all the extra fine, sand storm particles.

 

[Reefering1]

Yeah the CaribSea aragonite stuff is what I'm quite sure I've had in the past and always been pretty happy with the grain size etc.


This is exactly right. It's so expensive for the stuff I don't just want to put whatever crap the LFS has left over in stock in the tank. I've spent what I consider to be a lot on the tank and equipment so far and I don't want to just half butt the sand part.

I completely understand where you're coming from regarding the natural look.
I've considered possibly reusing my existing sand whilst buying more to fill the tank but I worry I'm just going to open things up to bacteria issues or something... too despite that my existing sand will probably more or less go to waste once that tank shuts down, so Idk..

Did you have unresolved issues in current tank?

 

[fishface NJ]

I'm picky. My current tank is Caribsea's Ocean Direct. The tank before this one had Tropic Eden sand. I received today 90 LB (41 kg) of Tropic Eden sand for my next build. Now to choose between to different aquarium manufactures

 

[Rijodan]

to be honest you're setting up a tank that could be running for years/decades. Taking time to ensure you get what you want is a big part of this hobby. cause if you make concessions you'll only grow to hate it

 

[Rijodan]

That said, I went with big ole bags of aragonite off amazon and just washed it forever and called it a day. i love, gobies seem to love it and the wrasse enjoys it.

 

[DarkReefer]

Did you have unresolved issues in current tank?

I think it's mostly resolved now although I do still have some hair algae. Whilst I know it's going to happen again no matter what I do with the new sand I kind of think it's best just to start 'fresh'.

to be honest you're setting up a tank that could be running for years/decades. Taking time to ensure you get what you want is a big part of this hobby. cause if you make concessions you'll only grow to hate it

Well that's my thought process. I know you can technically change it all if you want to at some point, but I'd rather try and at least attempt to do it right the first time which is probably why I'm being so picky with it.

 

[ronnie]

I went with this sand as it was on sale for Black Friday and seemed to have a good grain size. I’m not concerned how “live” it is, but it looks nice in the tank. There are some larger pieces that give it a nice look to me.

BRS:
20 lb. Bimini Pink Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand

 

[Karliefish]

I’m so picky I removed all the sand from my tank! Don’t know when I will learn but sand is a Dino magnet for me. There is no way around the Dreaded Dino battle and the only way I’ve been able to beat it the past two times is no substrate. Now my tank is crystal clear and all my coral are thriving and happy.

Im really intrigued by what you’ve written here. I having been dealing with diatoms for over a year and wonder if removing the sand would help to finally eliminate them?

 

[Cscultho]

Im really intrigued by what you’ve written here. I having been dealing with diatoms for over a year and wonder if removing the sand would help to finally eliminate them?

Im really intrigued by what you’ve written here. I having been dealing with diatoms for over a year and wonder if removing the sand would help to finally eliminate t

Im really intrigued by what you’ve written here. I having been dealing with diatoms for over a year and wonder if removing the sand would help to finally eliminate them?

Just want to be clear, diatoms or Dinos?

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I use Caribsea, every thing from fine sugar sand to ARM, also I added a a couple bags of shell mix.

 

[cilyjr]

I've always preferred a larger grain as I have a good deal of flow and the larger grain is less likely to be moved. I don't like or use anything marked as "live".
When I bought sand I used the tropic Eden meso flake. I believe premium aquatics is the only place to get it.
Now I just got my sand locally. There's only a couple of places I've ever seen this sand and near me is one of them. It's a medium grain feldspar. It's been in my system for 3 years, and in my current display tank since setup in February. Here's what it looks like.

 

[Nano_Man]

My sand comes from the beach when the tide went out good wet live sand .

 

[DarkReefer]

Would Fiji Pink (0.5-1.5mm) be too small do you think for a 6ft tank with 4x MP40s running ?
I'm a little worried about it blowing everywhere and being a pain but I'm starting to get sick of looking for sand...