I'm actually learning to set up a saltwater aquarium and I realized that the sand I bought isn't enough for the tank.

so I want to ask whether I can use freshwater gravel(pebbles, unused) in a SW environment as the bottom filler and add the sand(fine crushed coral) on the top?


I plan to only have some simple reef fish and maybe live coral before this time next year.

PS the gravel packaging does say safe for "marine aquariums"

__________________
4 week old 110gal tank with nothing inside

pictures soon

I just use plain ole play sand in my marine tanks. Never tried gravel but it should work also.

One thing on marine setups is they recommend calcium cabonate sand and rocks to prevent diatoms. but even that is just a temporary thing. As the diatoms bloom and die off os the silicates are consumed.

I do recommend using macro algae (usually in a refugium) to balance and stabilize operation much the same way as Fw plants help.

my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

imo, by doing this the larger pepples under the sand will trap waste, and thereby harbor Nitrates. Would be a tough one to keep clean.

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

IMO you get debri in your sand that creates nitrates no matter what you do. so you need a good clean up crew/with sand stirrers and a good skimmer. I would get some play sand or pool sand and put that under your crushed coral.

I "solve" the nitrates issue by balancing the tank with macro algae. Nitrates and phosphates are unmeasureable with no water changes.

my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

All true. But, if they are not running a Sump? Then what?

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

One does not need a sump

Just partition the tank for an in tank refugium.

my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Partition the DT, and use some of that as a refugium?? Don't think so.

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

Right now I have a penguin 350 filter and a PC-ml360 "canister filter", one that looks like a small vacuum, I also have two 29gal undergravel filters hooked up to the canister filter.

I also have a water pump for circulation, and two UV lights built into my custom hood

is that enough to mitigate any diatoms, nitrates, cyanobacteria, etc? I also plan on getting a few live rocks.

is there something missing from my setup?(other than fish or coral?)

__________________
4 week old 110gal tank with nothing inside

pictures soon

1lb of Live Rock per gallon and no need for those filters. And you must ditch that undergravel filter, your going to have Nitrate issues. Canister filters are also problem items for harboring Nitrates. UV lights just kill free floating bacteria, bacteria and parasites already in the water column, they will not help with Cyano or Diatoms.
Items missing.
Skimmers rated at 2 times your water volume.
Powerheads for water movement in the tank. 10x your water volume for a FOWLR and minimum of 20x water volume for a Reef.
Refractometer to measure your salinity.
Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria) - Description, causes and cures for Red Slime Algae (Cyanobacteria)
About Nuisance Aquarium Diatoms & Slime Algae
About Green Hair/Net Algae
How to Set Up a Saltwater Aquarium - How to SetUp a Salt water Fish Aquarium

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/

My nitrates dropped to unmeasureable levels in three weeks and phosphates a few weeks later on my 55g after I just crammed in egg crate 3" in front of the back glass. And added 2 2 tube utility fixtures behind the tank pointing forward. the area between the back glass and egg crate formed the refugium.

my two tangs graized on the macros that poked throught the egg crate, pods thrived also and smaller fish would go through the egg crate browse around then return to the front display area.

my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I think I should do a status update on the tank and add something important that I forgot to mention.

I apparently omitted something very important, I decided on an 80/20 mix of only crushed coral and ocean sand that covered the bottom in about an 3/2 inch of "sand" to let it cycle.

since this was done with all of my equipment running normally, should I just keep it as is?

currently this tank is about 72degrees F, all the nitrogen compound levels for the past 5 days are at about 17-15mg/L(too high?), can't find ammonia at all, and the pH is at 7.1 or 7(can't tell the color difference on the test strips), kH is at normal levels. I did all the tests twice each day.

I think I should keep this running for another week or two. should I expect the tank to have large changes later?

as per Reefing Madness's suggestion, I bought a refractometer and 2 more powerheads to add some more water flow(the flow is kind of chaotic now), but I don't know which protein skimmer to buy, any recommendations?

any other suggestions or corrections? I feel like I'm rushing a little here.

__________________
4 week old 110gal tank with nothing inside

pictures soon

tEST STRIPS ARE USELESS unless you have a swimming pool or hot tub! Get some API or salifert test kits to see what your levels really are.

the test strips(actually sticks) I used can be used in an aquarium, it's actually very precise, I just kind of mess up the test a little.

__________________
4 week old 110gal tank with nothing inside

pictures soon

Actually they aren't very reliable. But, good luck with them. API as suggested is a good test kit.

__________________
http://s1050.photobucket.com/albums/...eefingMadness/