Substrate...Im confused

S

Sarge

AC Members
Jan 8, 2006
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Ok...so the deal is that everybody says its ok to use sand from Home Depot like Aragonite based.

Others say you can use the ones with silica too...they say its the same only that the silica based one dosent have the same buffering cpabilities.

I dont know if silica based ones are good for a saltwater fish only tank...Does silica sand screw up the water or something or does it have weird fish killing chemicals?

Which type of sand is better?...are both ok?


:help: :help: :help:
 
I'm a newbie by far but I have a 55 gallon FOWLR going right now for about 6 months. I'm using silica sand because I couldn't get my hands on any argonite except for the $30.00 bag at the LFS. When I was starting out, I had the same concerns as you, but I haven't had a problem yet.

It is true that Silica sand does not have the buffering capabilities of argonite sand but I have not experienced any problems and have been able to keep my PH at 8.3 because the sea salt is enough of a buffer for my tank.

I have not experience any abnormal algea growth. I say abnormal because I have experienced a diatom bloom but that can be chalked up to a new unmature tank. All I did was limited the time the lights were left on and after 3 weeks, the bloom was gone and I could increase the amount of time to a full day.

Personally, I plan on upgrading to a 75 gallon in about 5 months and if needs be, I will again consider putting silica based play sand in my tank again. It just depends on what I can find at home depot at the beginning of pool season.

Hope this helps
 
Thats false myth, Diatoms only use dissolved Silica in the water, not from the sand as it doesnt dissolve in water, its no diffrent then having an all glass aquarium which is made out of the same stuff as silica sand :)
 
Silica sand is just glass. It is used for sand blasting. You might get a little dissolved Silica in the tank when you first put the sand in due to Silica powder in the sand.
 
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