Sand recommendations

[abank]

Hi all - I have a 75G FOWLR tank (1/2 live rock, 1/2 lace rock) and i have florida crushed coral as my substrate. My nitrate levels are off the chart and a few people have suggested its the crushed coral so i'm thinking i will take it all out and replace with sand (i like the look better anyway).

Can anyone recommend a brand and/or place to buy it - i'd rather not spend a gazillion dollars. I think i'd go with 1" per gallon.

Thanks!

[Beaun]

I like the CaribSea Special Grade, I think they come in 40lb bags for ~$28.

[bigsink]

I agree. Best sand! Pets Warehouse had best prices when I bought mine in August.

[Bananafish]

I have Samoa Pink. Looks really good under the lights. I got the #1, but if I had to do it over I'd get the #2 size next time. I also converted from crushed coral and did one third per week. Make sure you leave the new sand bed wide open for awhile so you can be sure it seeds correctly. I forget where I bought it, but it was about $30 for 40 pounds.

[abank]

Sal, what do you mean by leave the sand bed wide open?

Thanks guys!

[Bananafish]

I mean, don't put anything on it for a week. This makes sure you have good settling of bacteria. Also, when I rebuilt the reef, I put all my rocks up on little "stilts" made of small rocks so I had maximum water flow over the sand.

Additional Info: You need to do this in parts. If you replace your substrate all at once, you're going to upset the bacteria and send your tank into another cycle. When I converted my bed, I didn't move any of my animals other than to make sure all my snails, hermits, and other motile invertebrates were in a tupperware and accounted for. Everybody just dealt with it.

[Reefist]

I used aragalive on a new setup and my nitrates never went above 20. I used ocean direct Bahamas Oolitic (80lbs) then Aragalive carribean sand on top. I believe the fine sand reduces the nitrates most but with a lot of circulation the fine blows around. Just make sure to pour of the water in the aragalive sand off. It's not really live but it helps. I have used dry sand before me there was quite a difference. But that's my opinion. Also I used Special blend to help with the cycle. Hope this helps.
Tom

[abank]

Thanks everyone... This really helps!

[Editour2]

John, do you recall what Pets Warehouse charged you for the CaribSea Special Grade? I just called there and they said $40 a bag.....sounds very high.

[bigsink]

Was around $25-$28 for the dry stuff.

[username in use]

The sand will seed just as fast with bacteria wether the sand has rock on it or not. Just put your sand and rocks in and everything will seed fine.

[Editour2]

Was around $25-$28 for the dry stuff.

That's what I thought....Petsmart has it for $25.64 per 40 pound bag. Either the person answering the phone doesn't know what she was talking about or the price there really went up.