Salt and sand choice questions

[wolfeboromatt]

Hi all. I’m new to salt and overloaded with all the options and opinions out there. I’ve been reading, reading, reading so I have a baseline I’m working from, but of course I have questions. I’m starting with a nano tank, the Evo13.5.

I was leaning towards the CaribSea Fiji pink sand, but have heard that in such a small aquarium, it may get blown around a lot. I’m now thinking about the CaribSea special grade sand. Thoughts/comments on this?

I’ll be starting with just fish and inverts (after cycling and stabilizing of course) but will eventually add soft corals. Perhaps I’d then move towards easy SPS, but would probably leave more difficult corals to when and if I upgrade to a larger system. Given that scenario, are Instant Ocean ReefCrystals adequate, or should I invest in the better Meersalz Reef? Not a huge price increase but hate to spend $ I don’t need to.

Ty!

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! This is a great resource to ask questions.

I would personally go for the Special Grade sand. It is just a little larger than the Fiji Pink, and less likely to blow around. But either would be fine, so use what appeals to you.

For salt, everyone has their preference. But if you're starting with just fish and motile (moving) inverts like snails and hermits, you don't need fancy or expensive reef salts, which have elevated levels of calcium, magnesium, trace elements and alkalinity boosters specific to growing corals. Regular Instant Ocean (not their Reef Crystals) would be just fine. I like the basic AquaForest salt, it's about the same or cheaper than Instant Ocean and for me it dissolves more easily than Instant Ocean.

I hope that helps! Good luck with your new tank!

 

[fishywishy]

I’ve only used Fiji pink for my aquariums and it looks the best and is the perfect size imo

I use the regular cheap instant ocean salt and I’ve never had any issues with anything.

 

[kindafun]

Ditto on the Special Grade sand recommendation. Even with that it's a struggle to orient the pumps to not create vortexes that lift and move the sand (high flow in a 100 gal tank).

You'll find people successful with all salts. I've chosen Red Sea Blue Bucket as it is near the Alk, Calc, Mag levels where I keep my tank.

 

[cilyjr]

The coarser the sand the more difficult it will be to blow. The tropic Eden 3.0 flake is nice.

I've been using nothing but plain IO and or Reef crystals since 1998 and have no problems.

 

[JNalley]

There are 3 types of sand in this hobby, 2 of them are called Live Sand, even though I think one of them should be called Spored Sand, so I will be referring to it as such below.

Dry Sand:
can get it in all shapes and sizes just like the other two, it's super cheap and has a long shelf life.

Spored Sand:
Comes soaking wet (can see an airbubble in the package) is usually under the moniker "AragAlive" by CaribSea, don't know what the others call it. This sand has spored bacteria that is not active until it gets into Saltwater (I believe it's packaged in freshwater if I'm not mistaken). This is typically what people buy then they do FijiPink, "Special Grade" and "Hawaiin Black"

Live Sand:
CaribSea's other SKU is called "OceanDirect" and it comes in 2 sizes, Bahama Oolite which is super fine sugar sand, or "OriginalGrade" both of these sands are harvested from the ocean, the Oolite is sifted and then dampened again with oceanwater, and ship moist. This sand is actually cheaper, and the Original Grade is similar to the Special Grade, except in Original, you have a chance to get some larger shell pieces (up to 6mm sized objects I think). I nearly always go with the OceanDirect Original Grade sand unless I am doing a large tank, then it's the Bahamas Oolite. The best part is, PetsMart sometimes has it, and it's typically on super sale...

Salt is a personal choice, I just switched over to the NYOS Pure and it's nice... but any salt will work for a FOWLR tank... When you start to get corals and you know what Ca, Mg, and Alk you wanna keep, then it's worth looking into a salt that is close to the levels you wish to maintain.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Salt depends in how long you want to wait to do corals. You'll need better than just plain saltwater sake for corals but if you plan to just do fish and inverts for awhile then go with cheap instant ocean or something. If you plan to do corals in like 6months then I would say go with what will mix to the parameters you want your tank to be.

I use the red sea coral pro salt bc it mixes to the ratio that I like. Theres lots of people who just use reef crystals. Read to what they mix to and pick that as your baseline to keep stable in your tank.

As for sand...... thats everyone's choice. I had fiji in my last set up and it was a 30g. If a powerhead got knocked and ended up pointing down the sand would blow everywhere. When the powerheads were pointed at the surface or not at the ground the sand wasn't moving but my tank was taller than an Evo. I like the look of the fiji pink. Right now I have the coarser Hawaiian Black sand which if you want a sand sifting fish is not great for them but my rock flowers anemones and other inhabitants love the coarse black sand.

If you're worried about the sand moving I would do the special grade. If you're really worried do the coarse Hawaiian Black. It also looks cool. I just like that with the coarse stuff I don't have to worry about sand ever blowing in the mouth of a coral or covering it up. So if it's between the two you posted I would say go special grade.

 

[slingfox]

I started my recent rank with CaribSea SpecialGrade and got tired of it getting blown around by my MP40s which are on pretty high. I switched to Tropic Eden Reefflakes and have had zero issues with moving sand. The Reekflakes are larger and also sifted so the sizing is very consistent. The challenge with the feelflakes is some of it will get green from algae growth. This is a potential issue with any of the larger sized sand. I will soon give Aquaforest Biosand a try since that sand is super white which I like. The challenge I will have is Bio Sand is fine so I will inevitably get bare spots on the bottom of my tank. I plan to put coral mounted on small rocks in those spot. If this doesn't work out I may switch back to Reef Flakes.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I've not seen convincing evidence that the choice of salt mix matters.

 

[carol3]

When I started I was told to use the salt my local store always has on hand, in a 'need salt right now' situation it will save you because you want to avoid having to switch salts in an emergency. Instant Ocean can be found everywhere in my area and has worked well for me. As for the sand, there are a lot of cool gobies and such that would not appreciate coarse sand as many of them are sand sifters, also, in your nano tank, without sps corals, you won't need super high flow. I have a 40 gal softy, lps tank and fiji pink has worked really well for me and is good for my gobies also. Love my little sand sifters! Oh so many choices in this hobby

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

When I started I was told to use the salt my local store always has on hand, in a 'need salt right now' situation it will save you because you want to avoid having to switch salts in an emergency.

I think normal IO is a fine mix and it's all I used for 20 years, but IMO, there's nothing wrong with using most any mix, especially in an emergency.

 

[Glowurm]

Hi all. I’m new to salt and overloaded with all the options and opinions out there. I’ve been reading, reading, reading so I have a baseline I’m working from, but of course I have questions. I’m starting with a nano tank, the Evo13.5.

I was leaning towards the CaribSea Fiji pink sand, but have heard that in such a small aquarium, it may get blown around a lot. I’m now thinking about the CaribSea special grade sand. Thoughts/comments on this?

I’ll be starting with just fish and inverts (after cycling and stabilizing of course) but will eventually add soft corals. Perhaps I’d then move towards easy SPS, but would probably leave more difficult corals to when and if I upgrade to a larger system. Given that scenario, are Instant Ocean ReefCrystals adequate, or should I invest in the better Meersalz Reef? Not a huge price increase but hate to spend $ I don’t need to.

Ty!

I'd go with the special grade, its less likely to be disturbed. I honestly would not get to worked up re salt, lot of professional use Instant Ocean, you do not have to spend a fortune.

 

[carol3]

I think normal IO is a fine mix and it's all I used for 20 years, but IMO, there's nothing wrong with using most any mix, especially in an emergency.

I'm glad to hear you say that. really good to know!