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RachelDex · 08-26-2005, 06:26 PM

Hi there! We (my husband and I) are not really new to the hobby, but it has been a long, long time since we had a tank setup - just over 10 years. My how it has changed! We just purchased our first new home and close on it this Tuesday, so now it is time to start the tank again once we move in. When our tank was previously setup, we had a 75 gallon live rock / invert / fish tank. Unfortunately, we never had much good fortune with corals. This is the same type of tank we hope to setup again.

After lurking the forums the last couple of weeks, I have a few questions.

1) Using the same 75 gallon tank, we were thinking of using a sump system. If we do not do corals, will we need a refugium or can we just use a sump? My husband is thinking about building one like what Chris Jones made <My New Fuge!!DIY. We are planning on using a 5 inch deep sand bed in the tank. Return pump (500gph) and skimmer (150 gallon) were ordered today.

2) Speaking of sand, anyone have any experience with oolite sand? My husband's job gives him access to an unlimited amount of oolite screenings. These screenings are a calcium carbonate material with shell fragments, crushed coral, and fossils from when Florida was under the ocean (Middle Eocene to Pleistocene epochs). After it is thouroughly washed and the silty material screened out (remove material finer that 300 microns (#50 sieve)), it looks like it would be a really good substrate.

3) Live Sand - We were at the fish shop today and asked about live sand. The live sand I remember from long ago was purchased and loaded into buckets. It was crawling with small critters. This stuff they had at the fish shop was prepackaged in 40 pound bags with a small amout of water in it. I do not remember what the brand name was on it. I think it was called Aragonite Live Sand. Is this a good idea to use? We were wanting to seed the oolite sand with some sort of live sand instead of paying $30 per bag of this stuff for enough sand to make the deep sand bed.

Thank you in advance for any advice you all have. I am sure more questions will come up once we get moved in and the tank ready to get running.

08-26-2005, 06:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
RachelDex Astrea Snail Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Age: 36 Posts: 32 Karma: 12	Hi everyone! Hi there! We (my husband and I) are not really new to the hobby, but it has been a long, long time since we had a tank setup - just over 10 years. My how it has changed! We just purchased our first new home and close on it this Tuesday, so now it is time to start the tank again once we move in. When our tank was previously setup, we had a 75 gallon live rock / invert / fish tank. Unfortunately, we never had much good fortune with corals. This is the same type of tank we hope to setup again. After lurking the forums the last couple of weeks, I have a few questions. 1) Using the same 75 gallon tank, we were thinking of using a sump system. If we do not do corals, will we need a refugium or can we just use a sump? My husband is thinking about building one like what Chris Jones made <My New Fuge!!DIY. We are planning on using a 5 inch deep sand bed in the tank. Return pump (500gph) and skimmer (150 gallon) were ordered today. 2) Speaking of sand, anyone have any experience with oolite sand? My husband's job gives him access to an unlimited amount of oolite screenings. These screenings are a calcium carbonate material with shell fragments, crushed coral, and fossils from when Florida was under the ocean (Middle Eocene to Pleistocene epochs). After it is thouroughly washed and the silty material screened out (remove material finer that 300 microns (#50 sieve)), it looks like it would be a really good substrate. 3) Live Sand - We were at the fish shop today and asked about live sand. The live sand I remember from long ago was purchased and loaded into buckets. It was crawling with small critters. This stuff they had at the fish shop was prepackaged in 40 pound bags with a small amout of water in it. I do not remember what the brand name was on it. I think it was called Aragonite Live Sand. Is this a good idea to use? We were wanting to seed the oolite sand with some sort of live sand instead of paying $30 per bag of this stuff for enough sand to make the deep sand bed. Thank you in advance for any advice you all have. I am sure more questions will come up once we get moved in and the tank ready to get running. Last edited by RachelDex; 08-26-2005 at 06:35 PM.