[KnightGuitar]

Hey everyone, well I ran into this site while doing some research and I have to admit, I can't stop reading all this great information. So a little about me... I have been an aquarist for over 6 years but have yet to set up a reef tank. I have had just about every kind of freshwater fish out there, even a few brackish. I have even worked at a few local fish stores, but none that carried saltwater fish. I currently have 15 aquariums, I keep and breed African Cichlids in most of them (they just don't stop having babies) but also have South American Cichlids, Red Eye and ArrowHead Puffer fish, African Butterfly Fish, Purple Spotted Gudgeons, Bristlenose Plecos, Bichirs...and the list goes on. I think it's finally the right time to build myself a reef tank. I plan on building the tank myself, since I have extra pieces of glass from a previous tank. It will be about 70 gallons with a 35-40 gallon sump. I also plan on building a refugium inside the tank, and also making my own live rock out of cement... which will cover most of the walls. I live really close to the ocean and know where I can get free filtered ocean water, but my only concern is introducing parasites and such into the tank... what do you guys think? I've heard that cleaner shrimp and neon blue gobies do a great job at keeping parasites such as ich away, is this true? and is beach sand safe to put into a reef tank? I use this sand in my freshwater tanks... but I do give it a good wash. I appreciate all the advice you guys can give me, Thanks!

[RyanG]

Welcome to RB!

I wouldn't get the sand from the beach, or the water.

[CyberJester]

Welcome to RB Omied!!!

[DoLceNBeLLa]

The worry about the beach sand is that it has had contact with us dirty humans, and so its full of chemicals. Go scuba diving off shore!

[KnightGuitar]

I talked to one of the guys at the Scripps Birch Aquarium, UCSD's Institute of Oceanography... This is where the filtered water I was talking about is comming from. He said they use the same water thats free to the public for all their aquariums on an open system. He just recommended not to collect water during red tides, heavy surf, or when its raining. So... If I do decide to use natural ocean water I'll most likey filter it even more after collecting it.

[KnightGuitar]

OH!... and for the sand, I would go out and scuba for some but I just don't know how. Well, at least not yet... If I rinse the beach sand out really well like I do for my other tanks, would I be able to seed it with some already established live sand? I really like the look of a really fine sand bed. Or would play sand work?

[cappy290]

I would like to know if play sand would work as long as you seeded it with a 20 pound bag of live sand???

[RyanG]

Originally Posted by cappy290

I would like to know if play sand would work as long as you seeded it with a 20 pound bag of live sand???

Look for the brand castledown or southdown from a home depot or walmart , you may get lucky and fine some white play sand that is indeed argonite, there's a simple test you can perform with a small cup of white vinegar, add some sand to the cup with the vinegar. if you get a bubbling or foaming action then the sand is argonite. It doesn't matter, except for the buffering capacity.