Southdown sand - why didn't you guys tell me?

[Fishwife]

Hey!

Well, I picked up 10 bags of Southdown Sand at Home Depot in Annapolis on Saturday night. For all Marylanders - they still have 2 1/2 pallets left @ $3.49 bag. I am saving most of it for my next tank but have decided to switch my CC substrate to a DSB in the current 75 gal. then I can just move the sandbed to the next tank.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to start using the method that Ron Shimek had recommended at a conference last Spring. Basically top gravel with 1/2-1" of sand, let it sift down gradually, critters will move into it, the take out 1/2"-1" of gravel - repeat, repeat, repeat :) .

Sooooo, I got my little 1 qt. zip lock bag, filled it with sand, squeezed out as much air as possible, and lowered it to the bottom of the tank. I unzipped it and POOF! Sand flying everywhere - forgot to turn off the powerheads - hehehe! Turned 'em off real quick but this stuff is fine and it doesn't take much for it to blow around. The fish all headed for the hills. I filled and emptied the bag 4 times and the depth of the sand ranges from a dusting to an inch or so, depending on how it drifted. My tank was a white fog bank and I was a little worried for a while. But it was amazing how quickly it cleared. About 4 hours later the water was clear and it was kind of neat watching it happen. At first I coudln't see anything except vague shapes, then they started becoming more distinct. The fish started venturing out and it was kind of cool seeing them emerge from this cloud.

Everybody is fine after this first installment of the DSB - the corals didn't mind at all - stayed open the whole time - I guess it was nothing more than a storm to them.

The thing that really has me surprised and happy is that I didn't realize that sand would show fish shadows. Crushed coral doesn't but with the white sand when the tang or any other fish swims past there is a shadow cast on the sand. Very, very cool! :D I'm surprised no one has ever mentioned this before. Maybe those of you who have had sand beds from the start haven't even noticed, but when you have only had a crushed coral substrate the difference really stands out.

Now I just have to wait for the sand to filter down to add the next layer. I love this sand - feels like I'm at the beach when I dig my hands into it.

[Agu]

Hey Fishwife,

Have you heard about using a piece of pvc pipe for adding sand? Get a piece of 1 1/4" or bigger pvc pipe long enough so the top sticks out of the water. Put it in the tank so the bottom sits on the substrate, pour the sand in the pipe and let it settle for a while, and then slowly raise the pipe. If you're really patient you can add sand with almost no dust cloud. This works esp well for getting sand into narrow spots if you use a smaller piece of pipe and a funnel(don't let the tip of the funnel get wet or it'll plug up with wet sand).

Have fun,

Agu

[JCurry]

Hi Fishwife,
Yep, the sand look is pretty cool, better than CC. So Annapolis HD has some in stock ,I'll have to check it out the next time I'm there. They also have the breckett foam attachments for fountains, the ones used for the HSA skimmers. How's the 29 gal doing? didn't you use a DSB in that one? I'm about done getting all the stuff for my 44 gal. pent. just need to finish the canopy and get a reflector, bulb and set it all up :). I plan on useing the HD sand too, oh how did you IPSF sand stuff work? I was thinking of ordering it to start out my sand bed. Thanks for the info on the sand.

[Fishwife]

John - The 29 is doing much better. Had a bit of trouble with some slime for a while but it is almost gone. The stuff I got from IPSF was terrific and I attribute the reduction in algae outbreaks to it. Lots of critters running around.

Let me know when you want to place an order I want to order some more stuff for my 75 and some more Tang Heaven. Mine isn't dying after almost a month but it doesn't seem to be growing either. We can split the shipping and save ourselves some $$.

I wouldn't wait too long on the Southdown sand - the guy there told me they don't normally stock it.

Agu - Thanks for the PVC tip - I will definitely try that with the next sand addition. I'm going to pick up a bag of aragonite to mix in, too, so maybe that will help it settle out some.

[dragon0121]

FW,
Something else that can help, cure the sand before adding to the tank. Dump sand in container with water from water change and add small piece of shrimp. Stir sand well each day. About 14 days and the sand will have cured just like LR, and the grains now contain a biofilm, helps with the blowing around, and the sand already contains the necessary bacteria. The only time I added dry sand to my reef tank it bloomed cyano on the new sand like crazy.

[Afishianado]

Hey that's a good idea. I added new dry HD sand to my tank and got that bloom of cyano. I'll try that trick when I add the second layer later this week, does it really work, how long did you cure it for?

Chris

[Fishwife]

That does sound like a good idea. What I don't need is another cyano bloom! I will be trying it, too.

Laurie

[dragon0121]

Okay I just kinda winged my explanation, but the real deal comes from Biogeek (of course!). If you can find his article, might be in library, he gives an in depth (duh!) explanation.

I can say from experience, when I setup my 180g, I filled the tank and added 600lbs of sand, at the same time I started to cure my RAW LR in 100g trough. I threw 3 shrimp into the 180g while the LR cured. Circulated water in the 180g with a MAG12 and stirred the sand WELL every day. Easily smelled as bad as the LR curing :D . Took about 24 days for rock to cure, and the 180 with what little was left of the shrimp in it no longer had any odor. I yanked the shrimp from the sand about 3 days (day 21) before moving LR into the tank. Test kits showed 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. I could've told you that because around day 7, the ammonia smell was enough to make the eyes water, and then it disappeared around day 11. I also kept the water at the same temp as I was going to run the tank.

[GOOD (G)REEF]

I never noticed it after I made the switch from CC to HD Playsand, I'm gunna go look now... Than ks for the heads up!

[Tralfaz]

Thanx Fishwife!

I just got back from getting my sand. As a carpenter I am in that place all the time.This morning in fact! Every time that I have looked for the sand I always looked by the other play sand (with the concrete supplies). I never thought to look outside with the gravel. DUMB. Even stupider considering I bought 20 bags of Southdown deco stone for the garden path! (In my defense I never paid attention to the maker of the stone).

Anyway thanx again.

Re: The IPSF stuff.

Was that wondermud? I have been thinking about getting some stuff from those guys, I really am trying to buy only aquacultured livestock and I am considering getting their soft coral 12pack. Have you had good luck with them.

T

[JamesB]

Enjoy the shadows now. As the LS gets the biofilm on it, it won't be as white or reflective ;( .

Oh, well, James.

[Snailman]

After the post about Southdown going to sell it to us I paniced and went the the HD in Fredrick, MD and they did not have any. :( My wife went to the one in Leesburg today and got six bags. :) I am going to put a DSB in her 150 gallon sump. :)

[Fishwife]

Hi Tralfaz - Another Annapolitan - WOW! You guys are all SUCH snobs!!! HEHEHE -JK!

I loved my IPSF stuff. Got the 9 for $99 which included Wondermud and it was loaded with worms, snails, bugs.... I'm starting to see my spaghetti worms migrate to other areas of the tank. Everything I ordered was alive and they threw in extras of just about everything. Great company!

I was just talking to another Annapolitan plus JCurry who lives in that area, too. We should all get an order together and split the shipping.

Glad you got your sand!

[shred5]

I ordered the wonder mud too from ipsf.com great stuff. I want to get some of thier mini stars but they are sold out right now.

dave

[DJREEF]

Hey Fishwife, how's your tank doing since you vacuumed the gravel. Did all your levels stay in line? I'm curious because I'm considering doing the same thing on my 125, in combination with other things, to combat a phosphate/hair algae situation. Give me the details babe. Thanx.

DJ

[Fishwife]

Ooooohhhh! I got called "Babe" - giggle, giggle. :D


So far, so good. No obvious ill effects at all. I do have to say though, that the slime, or whatever it is at this point, was starting to show on the gravel again. Just a little brownish dusting by late afternoon but it is not supposed to be there. I don't think that it was worth the effort and unless your problem is really bad you probably shouldn't even bother. I remember when I was asking for opinions that somebody else said they had done it but the slime had eventually come back anyway. So I guess that's the pattern - no getting rid of all of the detritus with CC substrate.

Laurie