How Much Aragonite...?

[drsquirrel]

I have a 40x24 tank, and I am looking at say, a 3" bed...

40x24x3 = 2880 cubic inches... a 9kg bag says 320 cu in... so that's 9 bags of 9kg... 9*9 = 81kg of sand?

Have I made a mistake somewhere?





/edit - I posted this in the Fish section by mistake - could a mod move it when you can

 

[Morri]

Not sure on the maths but 81Kg is a lot of sand I think I used a quarter of that 2 x 10Kg bags and my base is 39" x 30" but mine is only 2" deep I think 3 bags should be enough

 

[drsquirrel]

Thanks for the reply

Aye - I think the issue here is the manufacturer saying how much you need - obviously over egged.

I checked a "DSB Calculator" for 3" on it and it comes out at 117lbs which is 51kg - a bit more sedate.

Then I saw a guide of 1lb per gallon (surely depth shouldn't matter, but oh well) which would come out around 100lbs (45kg). A few sites quote 1lb per gallon, and another even quotes 1lb per gallon per inch... that would be 300lbs for 3inches!!


Assuming medium sized substrate takes is 1kg per litre... 101x61x7.6 is 18483cm^3 which is 18.5l so around 18.5kg (around 40lb) which makes more sense.



I think I will probably go for ~30kg, any extra can go in the sump.

Ark has "Coral Sand" (Underworld Aragonite) £17 for 20kg or £20 for 24kg (same for Gravel) - half the price of most other products - which always makes me worry, should I be?

 

[Morri]

Live sand is generaly quite expensive (I know mine was) a lot of people say live sand is a gimmick, I went with the one I did as it had a nice mix of fine and coarse so it looks more natural.

 

[drsquirrel]

I know people say Live Sand is a gimmick - though when looking for "sand", most Aragonite seems to be "live Aragonite" (Arag-life is one of the names iirc).


I'm wondering about getting a sack of coral "sand" and a sack of more coarse coral "gravel" and mix them as I see fit. (since 40kg will might be way too much anyway, rest can go in the sump).

 

[seffieuk]

If you are in the Uk:

http/www.firststopaquatics.co.uk/acatalog/Substrates.html

Its where I bought mine from - I got the bahamas one, as I liked having shells in the sand

Seffie x

 

[drsquirrel]

Liking the shells... good price too.

Another online retailer for my list (I've kept a list as there are so many!).

Shipping (for 2x 30lbs) is £17 on that place though... and seems like no kind of "free shipping over £50/100" etc either.