what kind of salt mix do you use

[littlemissy617]

hey everybodie! its me again( big suprise eh?) so as you all know I'm giddy with anticpation (scary) as I'm getting so close to starting up my tank....so what kind of salt mixs do you all recommend also how thick should a sand bed be? I dont want a deep bed but is about 2.5 inches sufficiant? and what do you guys use under your live rock to keep it off the glass.... I've read some stuff but I would like to hear some of your imo's..... thanks again(naughty)

[Katz]

I use Oceanic Salt. I have a four inch sand base on my new tank and on my old tank I had a 2.5 in base. It is all about what you want. I put base rock directly on the bottom of my tank and then added the sand.

 

 

Katz

[dsoz]

I am adding about 1 lb sand per gallon of tank. This should be between a 1" and 2" bed. Again, do what you think looks good. There is research each way about "what is best" and each method proves that it is the best way.

 

As for salt, I started using Oceanpure because it was cheep. It is not bad. I just opened my second bucket of it this week.

 

dsoz

[Michael7979]

Your sand bed should be what you want. If thats a deep sand bed then pile it up. If you want a shallow sand bed thats fine too. Some will debate that one is better then the other but..........

 

Right now I have some Oceanpure left that I'll use til its gone then I might go with Kent Salt, heard good things about it. Instant Ocean, Pacific Coast, and Oceanic salts are all fairly cheap and easy to find.

 

You can go all out and have acrylic rock lifts built, (or make it a DIY project). You can use PVC rings to support the rocks also. Or you can use what Impur did, industrial dishwasher racks, (maybe he'll post a pic). If you are drilling for a CL you can use a 'manifold' that is tied into the CL and supports the rock too.

 

Just remember alot of this hobby is 'whatever makes you happy'.

[Chief]

I recently switched from OceanPure salt to Red Sea Coral Pro salt. For lack of a better reason, I couldn't find OceanPure in the Eugene area anymore. The Red Sea salt has been working very well.

 

PVC rings are pretty easy for rock lifts. Acrylic rock lifts are very cool and easy to hide, but they are not as easy.

 

IMO, unless a sand bed is about 4 inches or more, it will not have the ability of denitrification. In other words, if you want a shallow sand bed, it will be more for show than functional. A shallow sand bed must be cleaned unlike a deep sand bed. Personally, I like shallow sand beds. Get yourself some sand sifting snails and it will help a lot.

 

That's my 2 cents.

 

Jay

[bluecheese]

5 inch sand bed, nasarius snails, sand sifting stars, sea cucumbers to keep the sand looking clean and aerate it.

PVC rings to support rock and sculpt around it with more rocks. Start with the big rocks, create a hollow centers that allows for very good flow even in the midlle of your rock structure (limits deadspot where detritus might build up if you don't have a good detritus crew). also good hiding place for creatures , crabs, shrimps and other scaredycat monsters...etc...

 

as others have said, whatever makes it fun, after all you'll be the main one looking at it everyday and cleaning-up

[Nyles]

I prefer the red sea pro but the IO works just as well, you just have to buffer the cal and mag for a coral tank.

[impur]

Oceanic here! I have a 2" sandbed - total of 50lbs of southdown in my 75gal.

 

I used these for my rock lifts.

 

 

 

 

Still a work in progress

 

[R-3]

Kent Salt. No probs. Later Ryan

[KJohansen]

I use Reef Chystals. I asked about what salt since I used to use Instant Ocean. At least 8 out 10 that replied to my question were using Reef Chrystals.

 

I have about a 2 inch sand bed and my rocks were put in first...

[Palani]

Kent Salt. Got color back from SPS when I used to use Sea Chem Reef Salt ( High Boron levels and Brown corals, yuk)

[180Bob]

We use Kent right now for now reason in particular other than it was available. We have about 0-3" of sand in our tank at the moment. For rock support I built a support out of PVC, eggcrate and acrylic. I've attached a picture. It also functions as a return from the sump. The acrylic pieces stop the sand from wandering over time back under the rocks.