Substrate questions?

N

nieczy

So, I've been using pulverized limestone for a few years and I've decided that I'm tired to fighting the silt that comes with it (even after rinsing a ton). I was thinking about replacing it with Caribsea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand and was wondering if anyone else used it and what their thoughts were? The Special Grade is 1 - 2 mm grain size, the other option that looks reasonable is the .5 - 1.5 mm size. In addition to the previous question, I'd like to get a variety of opinions about what people are using for substrate and what they like and dislike about it.

My main goal is to get a substrate that doesn't have the ultra fine particles that get kicked up when the substrate is disturbed, that stays in place a little better (i.e. it allows higher flow near the sand without being blown around as much {obviously I don't intend to point a powerhead right at it }), and looks good.

I'd also be interested in what people do to keep their substrate clean (i.e. vacuuming, siring, leave it to the critters, etc.).

Thanks,
nieczy
 
I've been using Sugar-sized aragonite sand for years, but over the past two years I've been pouring larger grade substrate on top to keep it in place better. I never did use the ultra-fine silty kind that you are describing.

CaribSea and Tropic Eden are both good brands. I even have a thread here about adding sand to your tank. Here's the link:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54610&p=453013&hilit=adding+sand#p453013

I don't do any siphoning. My clean up crew keeps it stirred up and the flow keeps things tidy.
 
Where did you find the Tropic Eden Sand? I noticed in your link you were adding the Reeflakes. Do Reeflakes have a homo genius grain size or does it have a large spread? If you were adding a new substrate today what would you use (i.e. all Reeflakes or a mix of Reeflakes and Miniflakes, etc)?
 
I don't think they were called that size. www.PremiumAquatics.com sells Tropic Eden sand in various grain sizes. They also have media for Calcium Reactors by the same company.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top