Question About Switching Tank 90->150 gallon???

So I scored a 150 gallon today for cheaaaap with a stand and canopy only 225!!!! So i am going to move my 90 reef into that....Now in my 90 i have a crushed coral bottom....i wanna have sand in my 150....do i have to buy that expensive "live" sand or is there a cheap way to go about this....like using play sand or something? I will be using all my live rock from my 90 prob 150+ lbs so i figured if i dont get live sand it will eventually turn live 8)

 

You do not need live sand. You can buy dead sand at MD or some people have gotten some from Home Depot. Just make sure that the sand you get has NO silicates.

 

What is MD? and where do you think the best place would be to get this? like white or semi-white sand?

 

Sorry about that..... Marine Depot.com

You can get dead sand for lots less.

Most any LFS (Live Fish Supplier) will have or can get it.



Isn't shopping fun? hehe I recently bought a 150 as well and love shopping for new gear.

 

People used to use play sand with good results. Now that supplier of the sand (southdown) has gone away I would not recommend using any play sand. These sands usally contain a lot of silicates and those will wreak havoc on your tank with algal blooms. People hate algae issues.

I would recommend any of the aragonite sands intended for use in a marine tank. I am a big fan of the caribsea seafloor special reef grade sand. It is a bit courser than the really fine stuff but not too big that critters that burrow in the sand or sift sand will have any issues with it. It also does not get blown around as much as a fine oolitic type sand.



Don't buy the live sand in a bag. It is one of this industry's biggest scams. Get good reef type sand, and seed it with a couple cups of the CC from your tank, or some sand from an existing reef of someone else locally. That cup or 2 of real LS will contain so much more useful critters than a bag that has been sitting on the shelf for months.

 

cool thanks you know where i can find some real cheap sand you are talking about?