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Cultivated Reef

Live Sand


tibbsy07

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I recently set up a 5.5g pico using CaribSea sand from my local PetCo (Only place that had sand <20lbs), but I'm not happy with it. It doesn't sit well - the flow in my tank causes it to go everywhere and leave bare patches. It also is REALLY murky. I didn't rinse it the first time, but then I spent an hour or two trying to rinse it and it STILL clouds up the whole tank if I touch it. I've tried vacuuming it, too. Nothing. There is sand "dust" on all of my equipment.

 

I'm thinking I want a different sand. Anyone have any suggestions for sand for a 5.5g pico that isn't too fine? Any places online to get sand that you guys like a lot?

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Kellie in CA

I just tried the Special Grade Reef Sand for the first time and it's by far the best I've used. It looks great, doesn't move, and my tank was completely clear one hour after putting it in.

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Tropic Eden reef flakes is the best sand ever! You don't have to rinse it and your water will be clear in 1 day. Many will agree with me on this and Premium Aquatics is the only place who sells it. How many lbs do you need?

 

I recently set up a 5.5g pico using CaribSea sand from my local PetCo (Only place that had sand <20lbs), but I'm not happy with it. It doesn't sit well - the flow in my tank causes it to go everywhere and leave bare patches. It also is REALLY murky. I didn't rinse it the first time, but then I spent an hour or two trying to rinse it and it STILL clouds up the whole tank if I touch it. I've tried vacuuming it, too. Nothing. There is sand "dust" on all of my equipment. I'm thinking I want a different sand. Anyone have any suggestions for sand for a 5.5g pico that isn't too fine? Any places online to get sand that you guys like a lot?
Carib sea is a dirty sand!
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I'm using Fiji pink, and it doesn't seem to be causing much of a sand storm.

Cool - I'll look into it. Thanks!

 

I just tried the Special Grade Reef Sand for the first time and it's by far the best I've used. It looks great, doesn't move, and my tank was completely clear one hour after putting it in.

Who makes that?

 

Tropic Eden reef flakes is the best sand ever! You don't have to rinse it and your water will be clear in 1 day. Many will agree with me on this and Premium Aquatics is the only place who sells it. How many lbs do you need?

 

Carib sea is a dirty sand!

I need 5lbs ish at most. I suppose i could do 10 and just save the extra down as a dry base for a different pico later.

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Where in NC are you? I have fresh from the surf sand and I love it.

I'm in Chapel Hill. Where did you get your sand? Outer Banks area?

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Bald Head Island.

Cool! I won't be heading out that way for a while, though, so this tank will probably have to use packaged sand.

 

That Tropic Eden sand looks wonderful, but you can only buy a 30lb bag... That's WAY more than I need and the shipping for that is going to cost a fortune.

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SouthFlorida_Tron

Special grade is too big, and doesn't stay sparkly white...

 

Fiji pink is much better size wise and as far as cleanliness goes also...

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Fiji pink seems like a pretty standard reef tank substrate, but 0.5mm-1.0mm seems kind of small? Like what I have now... This may all change when I swap out the AC70 impeller for the AC30 impeller. Fiji Pink is definitely cheaper/easier for me to get a hold of.

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Small dust particles from the Fiji sand blew around for about half a week before everything settled. Now nothing blows around unless I turkey baste, and even then it only blows around for about half an hour to an hour.

 

EDIT:

This is also in a cadlight 8G tank. The stock pump supposedly pushes 187gph for reference.

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I recently set up a 5.5g pico using CaribSea sand from my local PetCo (Only place that had sand <20lbs), but I'm not happy with it. It doesn't sit well - the flow in my tank causes it to go everywhere and leave bare patches. It also is REALLY murky. I didn't rinse it the first time, but then I spent an hour or two trying to rinse it and it STILL clouds up the whole tank if I touch it. I've tried vacuuming it, too. Nothing. There is sand "dust" on all of my equipment.

 

I'm thinking I want a different sand. Anyone have any suggestions for sand for a 5.5g pico that isn't too fine? Any places online to get sand that you guys like a lot?

 

Did you look at Petco's regular sand? (by the gravel)

 

After ditching my old sand I just grabbed some of that and I've been happy with it. It's not too fine, and didn't need any rinsing.

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Did you look at Petco's regular sand? (by the gravel)

 

After ditching my old sand I just grabbed some of that and I've been happy with it. It's not too fine, and didn't need any rinsing.

Ours doesn't carry anything other than what I got. The LFS in the area sell the same CaribSea stuff, too.

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  • 2 months later...
MOJOEJOEJOE

Im in the same boat. I probably need 10 lbs or so at most and the tropic eded looks awesome. I wonder if they would split an order lol. Send 1/2 to one address and 1/2 to the other.

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Not sure about the chemical composition of Tropic Eden. I like CaribSea products because I know that it is aroggonite which assist with buffering and trace mineral addition.

Patrick

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I have Fiji pink and while it looks nice I'd recommend getting a lower flow AC impeller, unless I block off the flow from my AC 70 in my 10G it blows it around. I placed my powerhead to intercept the AC's flow which stopped it.

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the sand in this vid is fiji pink after 8 yrs submerged and only cleaned in the top 1/3, i intercept detritus before it goes too far with big blasting water changes.

 

good gas production from fiji pink no? :) sandbed makes tons of bubbles I see them releasing commonly. even though there is no meter in my house to measure gaseous nitrogen, i make the case this is solid n2 gas because if it was hydrogen s everything would be dead and it would smell at this level of production (smells like an ocean inside) and there are no green algae capable of producing this much gas in the sandbed. thats my take

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I'm using carib sea special. I such a small tank, it might be prudent to lay the sand down and let go for the first wek or two without filtration while you let the initial bacteria build up. As they attach to the sand particles, they will weigh it down a bit and help glue it together slightly so it doesn't blow around so easily. Also a sponge or filtr floss can help catch the initial dust.

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