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D3monic_Urges
10/23/2009, 08:35 AM
I am in the process of setting up my first Macro pipefish, dragonet and SH tank.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z79/amplexus67/IMG_0452.jpg


Origionally everyone had good things to say about using play sand as a base to build up the sand bed. Now that I have 100lbs in my tank suddenly im hearing negative things. I now understand that playsand will release high levels of silica. My question is, In a macro tanks is this such a bad thing? Will the Algae's use the silica? Will this harm fish? I'm a total noob when it comes to macro algaes and dosing for them. I am planning on adding and additional 80lbs of aggrogate sand ontop of the playsand.

Joe Pusdesris
10/23/2009, 08:48 AM
You can go with all playsand if you want, don't worry about silica. Quickcrete premium playsand will give you a tan/brown look, quickcrete commercial grade fine will give you a bright white. Those are the two finest sands I know. If you want something with larger grain, there is pool filter sand. I would personally stay away from kolorscape or anything of that type. Kolorscape is not pre-washed, does not have uniform grain size, and doesn't really have any definite chemical composition that I know of. You may end up with a lot of Aluminium oxide or other odd minerals which are not as safe as silica. I made the mistake of using kolorscape in one of my sumps.. It is working so far, but I do not like it.

Another interesting idea, which is unexplored as far as I know would be to mix in iron rich substrate, such as those used for freshwater planted tanks.

D3monic_Urges
10/23/2009, 09:12 AM
I was just getting ready to go looking for Kolorscape...lol I definatly want the top several inches to be white not brownish. My bottom layer is the Quickcrete premium.

Joe Pusdesris
10/23/2009, 09:17 AM
Quickcrete commercial grade fine is cheaper I think, and white. At my home depot it is near the cements, not the other playsands. Note, it is clearish-white, so if you mix it with brown sands, the brown will show through much more than you expect.