Live Sand vs. Live Rock

[rykitten]

Right now I have an 80 gal. brackish setup with 4 scats and 2 columbian sharks. At some point in the future I will need to convert to full marine.

I have been researching live rock and live sand. Is it necessary to have both live sand and live rock? Does one offer more filtration than the other? Can I keep my Home Depot play sand and add live rock?

 

[Navarre]

Its not necessary to have both but it is beneficial.

If i had to choose between the 2 then liverock would win the day. It offers great filtration and also helps with aquascaping the tank.

as for the play sand, i would get rid of it, you may find it a problem keeping the PH stable if you dot use aragonite sand. play sand can harbour silicates and offers no buffering to the water at all.

 

[rykitten]

Thanks Navarre for answering so quickly

 

[Navarre]

My pleasure
Good luck

 

[TBLightningFan]

Its not necessary to have both but it is beneficial.

If i had to choose between the 2 then liverock would win the day. It offers great filtration and also helps with aquascaping the tank.

as for the play sand, i would get rid of it, you may find it a problem keeping the PH stable if you dot use aragonite sand. play sand can harbour silicates and offers no buffering to the water at all.

I second this opinion. Especially the play sand advice.

 

[RamJet]

HMMMM, seems as though they didnt believe me in FW. They were saying that most of us on the marine side use play sand to save money. I corrected them, seems as though they came to find out for themselves.