Michael Roth Posted March 28, 2005 Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 (edited) so. Is there anything stopping me from using the same sand that I use for my freshwater tanks in my sw setup? It was sterile playsand from home depot. I would hate to kill anything because of a stupid error. Loonie is for scale. Edited March 28, 2005 by Michael Roth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albert_dao Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 You should be able to use a silica sand. There was an article on Advanced Aquarist on it a year or so ago. It offers no benefits by way of buffering or calcium though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Roth Posted March 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 thank you muchly. I plan of course to augment it with careful additions of live rock etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midgetwaiter Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 I've used the same stuff a bunch of times. Once I had a pretty nasty outbreak of Brown algae at first, much more than usual. I think it may have been caused by extra silica from the sand but I could be wrong. Albert is right it won't add any extra calcium to the water but if you are using local tap water rather than RO you won't need to worry unless you have a whole bunch of stony corals or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlkWolfe Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Other than lookin a little fugly for a sw setup (sorry had to say it :P) it should be fine Theres alot of dissent whether aragonite actually does contribute calcium or stability to a saltwater system, because it doesnt actually dissolve until a much lower ph than anything in a sw tank is likely to survive. Quite a few people go without any substrate and dont seem to miss it. Silica would provide a good area for bacterial growth though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Roth Posted March 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Other than lookin a little fugly for a sw setup (sorry had to say it :P) it should be fine s'ok. You won't see it much anyway, honestly :> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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