Sand

[bg7003]

Hey,
With this 72 gallon i'm setting up, i still have the sand from my fresh water tank in it. So i was wondering, can i keep this one inch base of play sand in the tank and add chopped coral on top and then add fine sand on top of the chopped coral? So the layer would be an inch of play sand, some chopped coral, then fine sand from the bahamma's. Would it mix or should it be fine or what?
Thanks!

 

[SkiFletch]

Mixing sand and crushed coral is a very bad idea. It's extremely difficult to keep such a sandbed clean and free of detritus. I would not reccomend doing this. Have you tested your playsand to see if it's silica based or calcium carbonate based? Just put a teaspoon or so of sand in a bowl/cup, cover it with vinegar, and watch it. If it bubbles or fizzes for more than a minute, its calcium carbonate, if it doesnt or stops fizzing quickly, then it's silica.

Mixing sands is OK if you do end up doing it. Remember though you really don't need all that much sand. I have a mere 20lbs in my 65g tank...

 

[bg7003]

Ok, Thanks!
I always thought that the base of chopped coral was good and acted as a buffer for the pH.

 

[SkiFletch]

Ok, Thanks!
I always thought that the base of chopped coral was good and acted as a buffer for the pH.

Same can be achieved with calcium carbonate sand The sand is just crushed coral crushed up even smaller.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Mixing sand and crushed coral is a very bad idea.

Just curious if you have something that makes burrows (such as a pistol shrimp/goby combination for example) what would be the best thing to use? I ask because when looking into keeping these I have often see people saying put in a mix of fine-medium grain sand and crushed coral.

I can imagine that it is very difficult to keep clean though and crush coral in general is just a big detris trap

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah the detritus trap aspect is a PITA. My best suggestion with a goby/shrimp pair would be with large grain coral "sand" with grain sizes about the size of like peanut chips. Say 3mm across or so. Those are usually big enough to allow things to burrow but small enough to prevent too much of a detritus problem

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Cool, thats handy to know, thanks