I have SouthDown now. I can supplement with more of the same, or Lowe's Quikrete Playsand when I run out.
What's up with this guy?:
I've always used CaribSea Aragonite in the past and rinsed the crap out of it with a hose/bucket until it overflows clean. I'm guessing I should do the same with the SD sand, right?
Also, how many of you use eggcrate underneath vs. no eggcrate? I'm leaning towards eggcrate just to add a little extra stability to the LR structure. I like this guy's idea with rubble too:
A little further than I probably wanna go, but interesting:
Also noted:
What's up with this guy?:
No you do not rinse the play sand. You would be washing out the smallest grains and you want them too. Yes you can keep some of your sand to seed it with if you keep it under saltwater from your tank. Will last a couple of days at the right temperature may even last longer.
Also, how many of you use eggcrate underneath vs. no eggcrate? I'm leaning towards eggcrate just to add a little extra stability to the LR structure. I like this guy's idea with rubble too:
i always do. i put the egg crate down, then larger rubble rocks and then sand around the rubble. then i stack my live rock on the rubble pieces so that everything is stable and won't move in case you get a fish that decides to burrow
I used eggcrate under my rocks, but the eggcrate sits on pvc pipe legs so the rocks are just above the sand. I drill a small hole in the end of the pvc pipe and tie them onto the eggcrate with small cable ties so they can't shift positions. The rocks sit stable in the eggcrate and the entire bottom of the tank has 2" of sand for all the critters that like to live in there. I used some smaller rocks along the edge of the eggcrate (sitting on the sand) to hide the eggcrate edge. This also promotes flow at the bottom of the tank, around the bottom of the rocks and keeps dead spots to a minimum. I've never had any issues with cyano bacteria since I set the tank up this way (18 months).
I use egg crate, but only under the rocks. I trimmed it and only use it where there are rocks and not completely on the entire tank bottom.
I recently tore down a tank, and the sand was really filthy and smelly (cleared the room of people once I started stirring/scooping the sand out) and full of crap accumulated over time. I don't know if that is a sign of healthy sand or not, but had I seen that before I setup my new tank, I would have gone bare bottom.
I recently tore down a tank, and the sand was really filthy and smelly (cleared the room of people once I started stirring/scooping the sand out) and full of crap accumulated over time. I don't know if that is a sign of healthy sand or not, but had I seen that before I setup my new tank, I would have gone bare bottom.