Which is better

[PENEJANE]

I was wondering which would be better. Sand or the white gravel type stuff that I had origionaly. I thought that the gravel would seem to chunky in the small sized tank considering everything in there is to be on the small side so I decided to give sand a go but hubby thinks it looks better the other way. Let me know what you think so I still have enough time to change back if need be hehe. Remember that the water is still a little merky from adding the sand.

Cheers

Sorry mod if these are to big. I have resized one of them but can't remember if the other one has been resized or not.

[jetskisteve]

the marble chip bearing in mind it wont stay white tho

[Krama]

i would go with the larger chip. might be easier to keep clean,

[evilknieval69]

if the sand was white it would be better IMO but normal sand looks like S%#@

[chimera]

i would use both - assuming the first is proper coral sand and not off the local beach mix them together then cure it over a couple of months. i have larger granules and dont rate it at all, you get NO life in it. just taken the larger out of my display - there is NOTHING in it at all. in the refugium its a mix of large and fine and does have plenty of life.

[goby1]

personally it looks like you have the large grade lime chip i would go with the medium i use it myself. And yes it doesnt stay white but comes up pretty well when doing a gravel clean.

[suphew]

The larger chip will let more crap get down into it, also depends on the fish you want to keep, all would be okay with the sand but some wont like the larger chips. Thinking about fish that live/dig in the substrate.

[land_lubber]

I like the sand but not the sand from the beach

[chimera]

The larger chip will let more crap get down into it

very much so. i can show you a photo of the "white" sand i took out of my tank if you like

[Fay]

I prefer coral sand

[PENEJANE]

Well the gravel type sand that is in there was given to me. Apart from that was the golden coloured sand (didn't show up that well in the pic) that I got from the beach. I don't know exactly what the white stuff is but it came from a setup tank to help seed the base rock thats in there and get all the good bacteria growing faster.

If I was to change it what would be a good grain size to go for, what type and where can I get it from.

Cheers

[wasp]

1.7 ml aragonite, actually in NZ it's usually calcite but the shops call it aragonite.

Not your only option though some may prefer and suggest a smaller grain.

[Pies]

i use 2mm coral sand. If I was setting up a tank again this is what I would use. White.

[Fay]

i use 2mm coral sand. If I was setting up a tank again this is what I would use. White.

Me too