# "dead" sand and live sand question



## bigrift (Aug 30, 2010)

its come time for me to buy my substrate i plan to go with a mix of live and dead sand to keep the cost down. some people have told me to buy pool filter sand as a filler then put my live sand over that to cut cost. anyone have any exp with this? any other sugestions for sand? i was thinkin of going down to the shore one of these weekends and takeing a few buckets full home and steralizeing it bu im guessing thats a last resort lol. alsothis is going to be a 75g reef tank with 20g sump i was thinking maybe 3 inch substrate should sufice what do you guys think.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

bigrift said:


> its come time for me to buy my substrate i plan to go with a mix of live and dead sand to keep the cost down. some people have told me to buy pool filter sand as a filler then put my live sand over that to cut cost. anyone have any exp with this? any other sugestions for sand? i was thinkin of going down to the shore one of these weekends and takeing a few buckets full home and steralizeing it bu im guessing thats a last resort lol. alsothis is going to be a 75g reef tank with 20g sump i was thinking maybe 3 inch substrate should sufice what do you guys think.


ok lets hit a this one at a time.... pool filter sand - no no 
beach sanc - no no
both because they have a ton of silica in themand they will creat a wonderful base for all the algae your tank can fit!!!!!!! LOL no really it is a bad idea....
a sfor sand depth it has been shown that 4+ inches or under 1 inch is best anything in between creates issues...

now for the main idea you can get deas sand and finely crushed coral to mix and then add a little live sand later to add the bacteria to the mix.... it will be cheaper and have great effects.....


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## bigrift (Aug 30, 2010)

any ideas where i can get dead sand thats not 17$ a bag like at my lfs? 1 inch ya ay huh... maybe ill do that and go all live sand then. also i was reading about copepods last night i know they are esenttial to any good reef tank so in my sump i was planning to buy a bunch of micro alge plants and add the bottle of these buggers to that or should i just add um to my reef a few weeks befor i add fish to let them get a head start. so much i need to learn on a few topics thats why ihavnt even added the salt to the tank yet =)


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

bigrift said:


> any ideas where i can get dead sand thats not 17$ a bag like at my lfs? 1 inch ya ay huh... maybe ill do that and go all live sand then. also i was reading about copepods last night i know they are esenttial to any good reef tank so in my sump i was planning to buy a bunch of micro alge plants and add the bottle of these buggers to that or should i just add um to my reef a few weeks befor i add fish to let them get a head start. so much i need to learn on a few topics thats why ihavnt even added the salt to the tank yet =)


you can look around on line but when you figure out shipping etc its about the same price..... as for pods if you get some LR to help seed everything (i assume you are going mostly base/dead rock here as well? it is the leat expensive option and works quite well) and with e little Live sand you will get pods all over the place while the tank matures.... as for bottled pods (like trigger etc) they should be cultured in a separate container as they normally dont acclimate well to a tank ( i will find the post that covers this in more detail) ... 

as you set up and cycle (mature) the tank a ton of micro life will emerge over the first few weeks... as you are starting with a lot of non live sand and rock potentially the process will take awhile before you are ready to add any type of stock.... many of us (me especially) have attempted to rush things along and found that this is a very costly mistake.... 

most macro wont do well in a tank until there is a bio-load to feed it so adding that to early would be a bit hard to keep..


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/coral-reef-creatures/breeding-copepods-45401/

here is the thread


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## newby30gallon (Jan 15, 2010)

what about using play sand? i know ORCA was testing it and had no problems and you can get a 50 pound bag for 5 bucks......

This is from algone: Two rather cheap sources of sand are sandblasting sand, which is more coarse than regular sand and mostly consist of quartz, and play sand, which has a finer consistency. Play sand is sterilized for the good of our children, and therefore suitable for the fish as well.


Substrate for Aquariums - Algone.com

let me know anyone..... trying to redo my 30 gal.... thanks


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

you are correct if talking fresh water... not for saltwater as the silica reacts differently with the organisms present...


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## bigrift (Aug 30, 2010)

i did a lil reading and id like your imput on this idea. what if i were to take limestone (formaly the seabed) thats rich in calcium and break that up fine like a sand (or i could probuly find it allready done) and use that as my "dead" sand. im not a cheap skate by far but i dont see the point in paying 17$ for a small bag of sand from a lfs lol


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

The best inexpensive source of sand that i've found is from Marco Rocks. 160 Lb Bahama Aragonite sand <br>(shipping included)<br>(*All sand ships USPS priority mail*) - BAS160 The price includes shipping.

The substrate of your system is so important that I would not try to skim costs.


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## bigrift (Aug 30, 2010)

i know pasfur i want it to be perfect tats why im asking so muc to make sure i get it right and for th right price.... that link is great less than 1$ a pound im gunna put a order in next week =) thankes


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

If you need more rock, I personally use the Key Largo dry rock from Marco Rocks. It seeds quickly and covers nicely with coraline. Plus it is very workable when aquascapping.


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## bigrift (Aug 30, 2010)

thankes ill look into it =)


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