noobie in live sand

First, I'm happy to be on this forum because theres lots of active and supportive members. So i read that live sand is more beneficial for corals than crushed coral. I'm not putting in corals just yet, i have lots of time before then. I'm setting up a 125G and need to know about sand.

a: What kind of sand do i need and I'm aiming for 2" depth, correct?

b: Whats the hype about aragonite vs other sands? Is aragonite required for reef tanks?

c: Can I use regular dry sand such as SpectraQuartz, Colorquart, or beach sand rather than Caribesea or other namebrand sands?

d: If i put any type of sand in there, will it be alive sooner or later regardless?

e: whats the popular choice chosen by most 3reef members?

f: cheapest place to buy the correct sand?

 

I use www.Marcorocks.com (be aware this is a fine grained sand and will blow around until it becomes "live" if there is a powerhead pointed at it.

 

Telgar is 100% on -
I would also add that in a saltwater system that is worth thousands of dollars, just ask yourself if trying to save 100 bucks on inferior sand is really worth it?

You will need about 120-140 lbs to get a 2" layer but like Telgar said if you plan on getting gobies or other digging animals its best to go with 3-4. Also with the deeper sand bed you will be closer to having a Deep Sand Bed (DSB). There are many schools of thought on the sand bed depth but whatever you do, dont buy cheap sand unless you know for a fact that it is silica free and it is aragonite-based.

Best of luck to a fellow 120G owner!

 

to figure out how many pounds you'll want use the action panel on the right side of this screen and click on Use Calculators - there is one specifically for calculating sand bed depth.

 

Sweet, this actually answers all my questions I had about sand

Thanks guys!

 

Sounds good . Now when I get my new sand , can I rinse it in tap water or do I have to use ro water? I have very limited ro water and I'd rather use tap to rinse the new sand , unless harm is being done.
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I don't rinse my sand any more, may take an extra day to settle the cloudiness but the fine stuff is better for the bacterial growth in the sand. It's all just calcium dust anyway.

 

+1. I don't rinse mine either as I believe it's better to have all the extra surface area too.

 

If you decide to do the rinse I wouldn't use tap water. The sand could potentially absorb phosphates and metals from the water that you would be adding to your tank.

 

Sounds good, no rinsing it is!!!