Question...about substrate.

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Rich

New Member
You guys are soon gonna get pissed off with my questions...but here I go again.

Tomorrow I'm making a start, and I wondered about adding the substrate...I have a 5kg bag of Underworld coral gravel and I'm buying
some live sand to kick things off. How much live sand would I need, and do I mix the two together or add one first then the other??

Thanks,

Rich
 
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incysor

New Member
Rich said:
You guys are soon gonna get pissed off with my questions...but here I go again.

Tomorrow I'm making a start, and I wondered about adding the substrate...I have a 5kg bag of Underworld coral gravel and I'm buying
some live sand to kick things off. How much live sand would I need, and do I mix the two together or add one first then the other??

Thanks,

Rich
Click to expand...
I haven't heard of underworld. I would make sure that it's pure arragonite. Some of the companies don't use pure arragonite sand/crushed coral, which means that you're starting your tank off by putting silicates in your tank, which can lead to diatom/algae issues later.

On the live sand issue, honestly you only need a cup or so from an established tank to jump start the rest of your sandbed. The more of it you use the faster you sandbed will be acting as a filter. I was somewhat skeptical about the price difference between regular 'dead' arragonite sand and 'live' arragonite sand, but the last time I set up my tanks everyone in town was out of the cheaper 'dead' stuff so I ended up having to suppliment with several bags of the more expensive 'live' sand. My cycle was definitely faster with the live stuff. Normally I'd still just recommend patience and less money, but in this case I didn't have any choice. You can just add it all in together.

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Rich

New Member
Thanks Brian, for that..Underworld are a big company, I thought they were an American concern ? Or at least had American connections ? http://www.underworldproducts.co.uk/about.html

I can get hold off as much or as little live sand as I need, either from a friends tank or my local shop, so no problem there. I've always used the same manufacturer's coral sand since I first started in marine aquaria...guess I've come to trust it now.

Thanks again, my friend...let the construction commence!!

Rich[/url]
 
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incysor

New Member
Interesting. I haven't seen it at any of the LFS here in town, and I haven't looked into ordering substrate online. I looked at the pics and it says arragonite on it, so it's probably good stuff.

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leaffish75

leaffish75

New Member
that aqurium store off 290 and Jones rd has some underworld gravel for the freshwater tanks. I dont know if they have it for the salt though. I do know their sand is 15 or 20% off.
 
Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia

New Member
Rich, I'd use the coral sand rather than the coral gravel. Over time, detritus becomes trapped within the gravel and will cause elevated nitrates. And, as incysor said, just a cup or so of LS from an established system will be enough to seed the coral sand.
 
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Rich

New Member
Ok gents, thank you muchly for all that advice....I have a layer of coral sand across the tank floor, on average about 3/4" deep, no more. I have some old rock from my old reef tank that's been stored dry, gave it a good rinse through before putting it in the tank.
Power filter is up and running, skimmer working[although both will need adjustments later], a 1000 lph powerhead fitted to the central rear of the tank, a 24" 40watt actinic 03 tube is in place and the suspended lamp goes up tomorrow.
Salt is in and mixing, and the tank is that cloudy you can't see through it at the minute !!
Live sand goes in tomorrow when the local trop shop opens, I arranged a handful from three different tanks to get things fired up. [his saltwater tanks are not on a centralised system, so all the tanks are slightly different]

Pics to follow...

Rich
 
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