Oolitic Sand or Argonite (crushed coral)???

[SnowReefer]

I have a 20g reef with about 30 lbs of live rock. I have about an two inches or so of oolitic sand but every time i touch something the tank goes cloudy because of the sand. Should I put some crushed coral (argonite) on top to stop this problem or just deal with it. What do u use? Sand, It looks more natural or Argonite crushed coral? Thanks

[SnowReefer]

Ok I know there are other threads about this but i would like some fresh info Thanks a million

[Dave ESPI]

did you wash the sand first? perhaps you have a lot of die off mulm in your sand....

FWIW, did yu add RAW live rock and the LS at the same time in your tank?

if so, chances are you have pollution in the sand. Siphon it out and re-establish the sand bed fauna.

[SnowReefer]

i cleaned the sand the best i could. I aded the LR several days after putting the sand in. I'll give a few days and hopefully it will clear. DO u think the LR will help with the clearing process?

[Dave ESPI]

exactly the opposite of what I asked. x) .. you have polluted LS.

Tank needs a dousching.

[~_~]

I just started a 20g with some Oolitic sand and I didn't even bother to wash it. After 3-4 days it seemed to settle down.

 

I just blew some sand around with a turkeybaster and the tiny tiny particles of sand flew around, but it didn't make it "cloudy" really. It all pretty muched settled within 5mins as well.

[reefriot]

when i set up my 90gal tank i bought 46lbs of supposed live walt smith live sand from a lady on ebay. well it was almost dry when it showed up and shes still selling the same sand 1.5 yrs later under a differant name. anyways i put 23 lbs in my tank after it was set up with some rock and seafloor grade aragonite. it milked up on me real bad for 5 days and i had to take a powerhead and ziptye a pillow case around it to filter out the crap. then it left a residue on everyhting. in a month or so it all settled beneaht the seafloor grade sand and was fine.

try using a micron bag on a powerhead or something.

i think adding a little coarser sand wouldn't be a bad idea either. just don't get crushed coral, use reef sand aragonite.

[tinyreef]

i'm with reefriot on this. i'm using oolithic on a new tank for the first time. i'm not as pleased with it. it may be more realistic but i prefer the <1mm aragonite sand versus this 'powder'. i can't move anything without kicking up a storm and like crakeur i like sticking my grubby paws into the tank. X)

 

like riot suggests, i would sprinkle a little coarser sand on top or slowly mix it in. once mine clears up i plan on adding some myself.

[Dave ESPI]

by adding the coarser aragonite on top you will create a natural "saftey hiding zone" for your pods and stuff also as the fish will tend to nail anything that moves across the open sand bed. Oolitic is good because of the animals that want to live in it will do so as they would in nature. I try of a mixed particle size sand bed as it makes for NON compacting and cementing substrata.

[Satchmo]

Even with the powdery sand, as the bed ages, it won't cloud up so much everytime it's disturbed. It is annoying at first, but it will resolve. The answer (as usual) is time.

[tinyreef]

satch,

the bed should always stay loose tho imo. if it doesn't 'cloud up' when you wave at it, it usually means the bed's beginning to bond or cement together. is that what you meant?

 

because even my 'coarse' sand will kick up but this oolithic is driving me nuts. it was one of the issues that always kept me from using the stuff. printer's strong advocacy of it finally wore me down to try it tho.

[AzSnake]

I wonder if some of the super fine particals actually disolve into the water. Especially if your PH is on the low side of the scale.

[Satchmo]

Originally posted by tinyreef

satch,

the bed should always stay loose tho imo.  if it doesn't 'cloud up' when you wave at it, it usually means the bed's beginning to bond or cement together.  is that what you meant?  

 

No, the bed is loose. It still kicks up quite easily, but it's localized and immediately settles down. What I mean is the tank-wide cloud that occurs everytime the bed's disturbed will eventually go away. I think you'll be happy with the fine sand once you get through that period. Unfortunately, that period is the beginning, where you're doing the most moving and rearranging. The fine sand is very annoying at that time, no doubt.

[printerdown01]

satch is right. This stuff is fine grain... so it does "kick up" BUT it's not like it doesn't sebtle! Eventually it won't cloud your tank at all (mine litterally takes less than 10 seconds to clear, and usually only couts and area the size of a golf ball). If you don't want it to cloud the tank the first time wash it, then wash it, then wash it again! Look this stuff is fine, and a pain in the butt to wash. Thus, people decide that they have "washed it enough." They quit WAY before they would have stopped washing regular sand. Why on earth would anyone do this? Because you can wash regular sand a lot faster, as you don't have to worry about washing it all down the drain. Just give the stuff a serious washing! Not to mention that there could be chemicals, dust, plant particles or anything else in sand that has been sitting in warehouses! Don't skimp on the washing just because it is difficult... -just my 2 cents