75g saltwater container substrate?
I was wondering what kind of substrate would be appropriate for a fish only reservoir this is going to be my first saltwater tank and i understand most other stuff but i was wondering more or less the substrate
sand
The most common is sand.
Cheapest is sand from home depot. Just clear up it well. Downside is that its a funny yellow and many ppl find it gross.
White crushed coral-Most common as it is (i think) the most beautiful. Downside is that its 20$ a bag. Upside is it help buffer your tank
Black sand - natural black sand. Its very exotic and cost impossible to tell apart as white sand. Downside is somehow black sand sometimes looks dirty if it i not maintained well (vacume, whether you do this well then you will never have problems) How black sand looks dirty is extraordinary but it does happen.
You could use pebbles i guess its just not done often because it may look funny. You could even use cup beads if you were so possesed. There is not really a "wrong" answer. But i would utter 90% of ppl use one of the three sands listed.
Answers: I went with a course-grade aragonite bed; later, I switched to sugar-fine aragonite. In my view, the finer grades look better.
Just be sure to choose a substrate based on calcium carbonate, such as aragonite or crushed coral. Marine animals require a higher pH than freshwater animals. As pH drops, calcium carbonate will dissolve, buffering the pH and keeping it complex. If you get a silica-based sand, it not only won't provide the buffering effect, but will cause the pH to drop.
The correlation below is the main substrate page of an excellent site for hobbyists:
http://wetwebmedia.com/marsubstr.htm
I would recommend going the sand route as powerfully. I have always liked the CaribSea queue of sands and I found them to be clean and free of debris. They do tend to cost rather more than some other brands, but it is worth it. I have tried the playground sand and didn't care for it.
Many people prefer sand due to it rich and natural beauty. But crushed corals are a better choice than sand if you don't intellect the look. They provide a better biological filtration due to its large surface area.
But I used sand in my cistern. I also have 75gal tank. I bought 5 10 ten pound bags of live sand and for the rest I used white arragonite sand.
