A few questions/comments

[pmathy]

Hi Sandra,

I really enjoyed reading your article. Your new tank looks beautiful. I am on my first tank--a 70 gallon tall. I was interested to see that you use Oglebay Norton Industrial Sand in this tank and that you have past experience with this sand from your previous tank. I live in Arizona and we can't get the frequently mentioned Southdown at the Home Depot here, but they do carry Oglebay Norton Industrial Sand. I have debated trying it (to replace my current crushed coral) but was put off because some the people at my LFS cautioned to stay away from silica due to the possibility of promoting algae growth (however, I have noted that Dr. Ron says this is not a problem with silica sands). Anyway, the other concern about the Oglebay sand was the health warnings on the label about the dust. I would love to hear your comments/experiences regarding these issues.

I really like your canapy and the ability to slide it front to back to reach the walls of your tank. I have to lift mine off to get clean, and arrange corals, etc. and it it too heavy for me to do by myself. Do you have a link for the canapy plan?

I was also wondering how much LR you have in your new tank.

Thank you again for your article.

Pam

[reefgal]

Pam,

Thanks so much! I am very happy with the new tank and spend hours sitting in front of it. :)

As far as the sand is concerned, I could not be happier with it. You are right in that there is no problem using silicate sand. The silicate sand can't dissolve any more than the glass walls of the tank.

What I found most amazing about the sand is the fact that it does not cloud the tank. I dumped 500 lbs of the sand straight from the bag into the tank, added water and within a half hour starting arranging rock. Even when an animal kicks up some sand, it quickly settles again. For the first week the new tank was set up, there was a diatom bloom that covered the sand with a brown layer. (I'm sure this was caused by the silicate that was introduced in all the brand new mixed saltwater I put into the tank.) It went away on it's own just like any other new tank going through it's regular cycle.

Right now I would guess that I have about 175 pounds of live rock. Since I depend on the deep sand bed for the main system filtration, I just put enough live rock to give me the aquascaping I wanted.

I've been asked about the canopy a couple of times. I will work with my husband and see if we can draw something up. He made it up as he went along!

Best regards.
Sandy