substrate

I’m ordering a pistol shrimp and watchman goby pair and am wondering if caribsea crushed coral substrate would be good enough for it to burrow in.

I'd like to fill my frag tank (plumbed to display tank) with some heavier black substrate that won't blow around due to the powerheads. Is there anything I should keep in mind when purchasing something like this? EDIT: this brand is not reef safe. Anyone know where I can find something...

How does the burrow even stay intact? I've seen all kinds of substrate used in pistol shrimp setups - pebbles, crushed coral, aragonite sand, fine sand, etc. There's been some people who managed to bait the shrimp into burrowing next to the hardscape, and the rocks sort of "guide" the shrimp to...

Hey everybody. I found metal shavings, or what I think are metal shavings in my substrate. The magnet fell onto the substrate which it does often and when I pull it out, I found metal shavings or what I think are metal shavings stuck to the magnet. The system is about two weeks old and I put...

My substrate was filled with GHA, so i took the superficial part out and washed it with hydrogen peroxide I know that kills good bacteria too, but nothing else was working Anyways, when i put it back into the tank, a bit of the algae that stayed got buried Is that a problem? Will it die and...

Hello! I just moved across the country, and brought my fish tanks over in two phases. Everything survived!!! My 2 clown fish, GSP, Golden Hammer, and small COC have been living in my QT for about 3-4 weeks. Now that I am about to bring up my DT and set everything back up for that, I am not sure...

I have a 6 month established reef tank with inverts/corals/fish. I started with some really fine substrate but am looking to change it (gradually) with something heavier as the flow from my return pump and powerhead tends to sift it around (on low settings, not pointed directly towards...

I set up a 29G quarantine tank and didn't realize I wasn't supposed to put substrate in. I have 3-4 inches of Arag-Alive I need to siphon out. What should I use? I can't use my normal siphon connected to the sink because the sand might destroy the plumbing. I have 5 gallon buckets.

First time caller here. I'm in the process of buying my first saltwater aquarium after being in the freshwater world for a few years now. I have decided to buy a used 300 gallon tank because she said bigger was better. Today I was at the owner's home surveying the tank and forming a strategy for...

Can cabbage coral be kept on the substrate? Will the tissue be irritated? I rarely see any sand covering it and it seems happy but for the bottom half touching the sand. It never seems to as fully extend. Should I prop the rock it’s on up off the sand?

So I just got my order from Petco and was supposed to be a fine sand but got aragonite. I somehow ordered the wrong sand. I’m thinking of keeping this but I’m not sure. Are there any drawbacks from using this instead of a fine sand bed? What about sand sleeping wrasse? Any feedback would be...

Hello fellow saltines, I started up my 5g tank almost a month ago with CaribSea Fiji Pink live sand. Over the past year I have been researching how all of the different elements of a reef tank interact with each other and how they affect tank parameters. One of the things I read is that some of...

It’s me again. Between googling and reading comments through multiple forums, there’s a lot of good advice but it varies enough to sometimes become a bit confusing. I’m curious how often everyone cleans their tanks (water replacement, sand/gravel cleaning, etc...). I understand this will differ...

Hey! I'm currently aggressively researching absolutely everything I can as I plan and save to set up a 120 gallon tank! Something that has really eluded a concrete answer from my perspective is the use of a DSB for burrowing species. In my 120 I'm hoping to house an Engineer Goby, a Jawfish, A...

Hi everyone, I'm about to start reefing a new tank. I have Nature's Ocean Aragonite (#1) as substrate and the question is: should I rinse it before adding in the reef? If I have to do so, what is the best way to do it? Thank you!

I started my tank off a while back. And I’ve been having a major issue with sand free floating all over the tank and semi covering everything up. Would it be worth it to maybe add some crushed argonite on top of the sand to kinda compact it? Didn’t want it to mess with my snails or snowflake...

Hey everybody! I’m getting an octopus most likely Pygmy Atlantic octopus. I have figured out want I am doing for mechanical now I just need to figure out substrate and aquascape. I was thinking a more coarse substrate. Maybe Fiji pink rock for the sand. And I’m not quite sure what to do...

Hello, I’m new to the hobby and have picked things up here and there from different people and ended up getting 3 unopened bags of live sand and a bucket full of old reef sand roughly the same consistency. I was wondering since they’re about the same size if it would be ok to mix them for a...

Howdy y’all! I am beginning the process of setting up my seahorse tank. I bought some dry substrate for my tank because I don’t entirely know when I will be able to get around to setting up the tank officially. I have had my other tank set up and running for around 7 months now. I was wondering...

Opinions needed please. In one of my tanks I am currently using crushed corals for the substrate. That tank is not even a year old yet, it is fully cycled though and already has fish and all sorts of inverts thriving. I would like to switch out the crushed coral and replace with sand. Nothing...

Hi guys, Hope this is in the correct thread.. I have been cycling my new tank for 25 days now and in the last week have noticed a substance build up on the glass of my sump (pictures below). I used ATM colony to start the cycle and In my sump I have bio blocks, a skimmer not current running...

Hey all, Having a debate with a good friend who is a multi tank reefer and swears by bare bottom tanks. A majority of them are SPS dominant with a few mixed. I on the other hand I run 3 tanks each with white sand and working on a black sand nem tank. I prefer the diversity:) So the great...

I got this reef for 18 months. Never cleaned the sand. The sandbed is Aragonite 2mm with 1'' height. I thought it was coralline algae in the sand, but i'm not sure anymore, it looks really ugly! Nitrates and phosphates 0 I showed this picture to a LRS owner and he think it might be a...

Hello all, I am wondering what is the cheapest bulk sand that is reef safe? This will not be used as a sand bed but instead will be used to create some cement sand molds. I’m looking for something very fine like CaribSea Super Naturals Aquarium Sand but cheaper. CaribSea Super Naturals Aquarium...