Fine Sand or Aragonite

[fishkeepersaltnfresh]

Hi ALl,

 

I am upgrading from my 10G to 20G long. I currently have white sand as substrate. I am thinking to throwing away my old substrate and use new substrate for the new tank.

I am contemplating between "Imagitarium Black Aquarium Sand" and "CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Sand". Does Aragonite cause issues for burrowers like Yellow watchman goby?

Any input (including re-use of old substrate) is appreciated.

[Garf]

I used CaribSea aragonite live sand in my EVO build, it was a fine grained live sand. I used that with a few pounds from my established tank, which was a larger grain. The mix of the two textures works for me, I was concerned about that at first. It looks more natural. The only thing I would worry about is the fish tossing the fine grained sand around, my female clown creating a mess with this. I'd re-use some of the old sand, to seed the new sand with all that good bacteria you established. 

 

[Oldsalt01]

Well said Garf! Larger grain sand will not move around as easily, the downside being it can trap more detritus if not vacuumed regularly. I personally don’t like the look of black sand, but that’s just my 2 cents. A couple of #s of old sand will help cycle the new tank, if minimally. 

[fishkeepersaltnfresh]

Thanks you guys. Will larger grain cause any issues to snails or gobies???

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, fishkeepersaltnfresh said:

Thanks you guys. Will larger grain cause any issues to snails or gobies???

Depends what you mean by large sand.

 

I have used the following:

 

caribsea Fiji pink-  it was great.

 

Caribsea aragonite aramax - didn't like it. After hours of washing it was still not fully clean. Most of it has been removed from my tank now.

 

Caribsea Hawaiian black - makes tank dark, appears smaller, grain was too large and trapped alot of stuff in it which led to cyano, gha, more cyano(even with weekly and 2 times a week vacuuming) nassarius had a hard time digging it it.

 

Ocean direct - fine with larger shell pieces in it. This is a nice sand as well. I stir it and vacuum what comes out. No one has issues with.

[xthunt]

Caribsea Aragonite/Special Grade is all I use. Definitely have to keep it clean though, its a detritus sink. Washing it does take some effort, but can be done, at least enough that it’ll barely cloud. I put it in a bucket and use a sprayer on a hose and blast/churn it.

 

Cleaning it is a must I think. Every bag Ive had, has what looks like bits of wood or grass come out when I start washing it. 

[fishkeepersaltnfresh]

Going by the comments above, I might go with fine sand. Just to keep clear of detritus.

[Oldsalt01]

Washing any sand is a good idea. All kinds of junk will come out and you’ll eliminate 90% of the “fines’ which will cloud the tank. It’ll cloud anyway but not nearly as much. A garden hose and bucket are all you need. Tip the bucket slightly and give enough pressure to roil the sand but not wash it out of the bucket. I usually follow with 10 gallons of ro/di to get the tap water flushed out to eliminate the chlorine/fluorine while stirring the sand. An extra pair of hands helps too.