sand silca coral crushed

[david]

I plan to restart my tank soon The crushed coral that was in the tank should
I just get rid of it. for the best DSB how small is the sand. I understand
about it being a buffer but the size is also important but I do not know
quite why.
here in the uk most sand is silica, and I think that is what I will be
using the main reason
it being cheap. I cant see it being that bad with a calcium reactor to add
the missing buffer.
then comes the colour of the sand I want a white sand like
silversand but i dont know why it is called silver sand. then theres
horticutral washed sand I was thinking the washing may take the fine sand
that I want ( need ).

Your views please.

David

[skozzy]

You can reuse the crushed coral for making home made rocks, mix it with
cement (6parts CC and 1 part cement) and put the mix in a container with a
sand base, make a shape in the sand and fill it with the CC. Once hard put
it in water outside, keep it wet for many weeks (changing water weekly),
test for ph level after 6 weeks, if it's ok then you can put it into your
tank as rock, over time coraline will grow on it and then corals can be
added to it or just wait for corals to grow on it naturaly.

As for the sand for the tank, take a magnet with you to the place you want
to get it from and see if there is any metals in it by putting the magnet
just abone the sand, if there is any metal then stay away from it.

I have been without CC in my tank for 4+ months and so far I have not
noticed any ph or alkalinity problems, but then maybe the sand bed I have is
doing some buffering or maybe my rocks themselves are the buffer.

> I plan to restart my tank soon The crushed coral that was in the tank
should
> I just get rid of it. for the best DSB how small is the sand. I understand
> about it being a buffer but the size is also important but I do not know
> quite why.
> here in the uk most sand is silica, and I think that is what I will be
> using the main reason
> it being cheap. I cant see it being that bad with a calcium reactor to add
> the missing buffer.
> then comes the colour of the sand I want a white sand like
> silversand but i dont know why it is called silver sand. then theres
> horticutral washed sand I was thinking the washing may take the fine sand
> that I want ( need ).

[Steve Sells]

a few years ago ( 15+) I talked to the curator of tanks at the Shedd
Aquarium in Chicago.Ill, USA. I talked to him because I knew they used
Concrete for many displays and I planned( and made) a 240 gal Cichlid tank,
and I wanted a "rock wall" for the mothers to brood their young.

I was told they use Concrete "sand mix" for most their displays
backgrounds. For formations that resemble the natural environment, they
used Hydrochloric Acid (typical swimming pool acids) to Neutralize the high
pH (average 12+) of the mix. They cycled the tank a few weeks, until the pH
remained satiable.

I used about 400 pound of Sand Mix for tank ( and I added 1/4 air line to
caves, to prevent stagnant spots) the and it didn't tank long to get a
stable reading on the pH meter. I have real Live Rock in my reef tank, but
my experience with the 240 tells me, that it should work to make the Home
made rock safe.

Steve