Glass Beads Sandbed

[BarraCudaTM]

My first impression of having a glass sand bed is the whiteness of the sand and sparkles under good lighting. My idea of having a sparkling white sand bed.

Glass beads have several advantages over regular coral sand.

Glass beads being inert would not break down and is chemically inactive. It also would not absorb phosphate or any other heavy metals which is the primary concern of DSB users in US.

It is also much heavier than coralsand thus settle within hours after washing. I wouldnt be concerned about surface area as these glass beads are much finer than C0 sand with a size of 0.15mm to 0.09mm.

DSB height can be reduced due to the fine size and mud texture of the glass beads.

I used the ballotini impact spheres manufactured by Potters Industries Inc in Austrialia.

Typical Properties:

Shape - spherical

Color - clear

Hardness (Knoop) - 515

Compressive strength - 36,000 psi (avg.)

Density - 2.5 g/cc

Specific Gravity - 2.45-2.50

Free silica content - 0%

I used 2 sizes for my sand bed.

Size 10, US Sieve 100-170, micron 150-90, roundness 90%

Size 3, US Sieve 20-30, micron 850-600, roundness 65%

Full Specs can be found here

The Size 10 glass beads are so fine that it pours like liquid and have a mud texture when wet. There are no risk of cuts from the glass beads as they are too fine to even scratch yr skin.

[Achilles Tang]

Interesting! You must document the changes to the sandbed as it matures...

[Joe_P]

Very interesting....

Would very much like to have them as part of my new reef project...

[roidan]

very nice and clean..hehe

post more pics of your tank leh....gerald and I was saying your tank really patiently built with DC silicon lovingly...and then have to wait for your other stuff to be ready...hehe

i think i ordered my 4ft the same time as you did your new tank...and i think that time i took delivery of the 6ft....gerald hasn't delivered your tank to you yet..hehe

but should be a great tank lah....at least you have a very important requisite...patience.....which i dun have..heheh .

anyway...post more pics leh...

[CalciumReef]

where can buy?

[BarraCudaTM]

As the glass beads are so white, any impurities would be an eye sore. I ran a strong magnet over the glass beads and hardly picked up anything. A closer look at the sand revealed glass of different colours. There are some yellow and black glass beads among them.

Most of the impurities will float in water so all you need to do is to stir them up and pour away the top portion of the water.

Another interesting feature is that it looks so natural. The waves and pattern will form naturally on the sandbed with my return and a powerhead. I covered the Size 10 with Size 3 because I get whirlpool with just a 2000L/hr powerhead. Being so fine, the sand actually got picked up, whirl and picked up even more sand like just a real tornado! I spent 1 hour looking at this strange sight.

Then I realised I'm in deep shit, there is no way I can get clear water with so much acts of nature. I bought another pack of Size 3 beads and laid them over, water cleared within 4 hours.

[roidan]

wah nice!!!! that's what i call a pure and fine sandbed

[Joe_P]

One point to take note of regarding the usage of glass beads in replacement of coral sand and that is :

due to the consistency of the glass beads.... wouldn't there be difficulty for the liverocks to hold themselves on the sand bed without toppling down????

[Achilles Tang]

What do you mean? Like quicksand??

[ah^siao]

that's a very nice sand bed.. where u bought the glass?

how much is the cost?

[BarraCudaTM]

These glass beads are quite glaring to look at under MH lights as they reflect light and sparkles. SPS maybe able to get some light underneath due to this reflection.

To give you an idea how glaring it is to look, here's a pic with 250watts 10000K BLV on the right side of the tank. This shot is taken without flash with EV -3

[roidan]

that's a very nice sand bed.. where u bought the glass?

how much is the cost?

much more expensive than coral sand definitely, normal shops may not have this kind of beads as not many people will want to use them....except maybe for sandblasting purposes

but you go along looking for those glass companies...they will be able to point you in the right direction...

but..the cost is really much more than sand...hehe

[BarraCudaTM]

One point to take note of regarding the usage of glass beads in replacement of coral sand and that is :

due to the consistency of the glass beads.... wouldn't there be difficulty for the liverocks to hold themselves on the sand bed without toppling down????

If you are talking about Size 10 glass beads, dont worry.. it will stick on yr liverocks like mud and yet removed easily with some shaking.

[BarraCudaTM]

A pic of the glass impurities under my F717.

[roidan]

A pic of the glass impurities under my F717.

like fine sugar

[ah^siao]

hmmm yeah.. the glass beads reflect light.. then the sps will not get RTN? did i say i correctly?

hmmm.. can PM me on the price of the size 10 and size 3?

btw how big your tank. and how much of these u used.. there was this thread on arofanatics abt this glass beads thingy right?

[BarraCudaTM]

The cost of the glass beads are $1.4/kg. They come in 25kg packs so each pack will cost $35. Corals sand cost about $0.6/kg and comes in 10kg packs.

You will not be able to purchase these glass beads from hardwareshops. Its only available with sandblasting suppliers and have a certain min order before shipping. It is best to order under a sand blasting company's name as you will get a cheaper price.

Becareful to ask for spherical glass beads as there are glass chips in the market. The glass chips are very rough and have the tendency to cut however they cost only $0.4/kg

[ah^siao]

hmm then it is abt twice the cost for per bag of normal coral sand..

howbig your tank.. how many pack do u actually used?

[BarraCudaTM]

My tank is 4x2.5x2.5, I have 75kg of Size 10 and 25kg of Size 3. Sandbed height is about 3.5". The price I stated is the price quoted to a sandblasting company, I'm not sure if the price is similar for individuals.

[ah^siao]

i'm wonder if the glass beats exerts more pressure than normal coral sand... it too much pressure wun the tank life be shorten?

[BarraCudaTM]

Being finer, the weight is actually more evenly distributed than coralsand. Just that you get less volume with the same weight.

[ah^siao]

ok.. found it.. this is the thread in arofanatics...

http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/showthre...&threadid=95717

[nqh71]

Hi Bro,

This is very interesting... Please keep us updated on its development... Maybe can try on my next project in a few months time...

[weisoon]

Just one interesting thought that came to my mind after reading.

Glass will have properties of reflection and refraction, so I assume that the light from above will also penetrate deeper into the glass bed, other than being refracted. With this, will there be a higher chance of getting algae developing deeper into the glass bed causing the bed to turn a bit ugly? Just like on the tanks's glass. Also will bacteria be able to colonize the glass like sand, it being not having any porous properties. Just my own opinions. Cheers.

[roidan]

Just one interesting thought that came to my mind after reading.

Glass will have properties of reflection and refraction, so I assume that the light from above will also penetrate deeper into the glass bed, other than being refracted. With this, will there be a higher chance of getting algae developing deeper into the glass bed causing the bed to turn a bit ugly? Just like on the tanks's glass. Also will bacteria be able to colonize the glass like sand, it being not having any porous properties.  Just my own opinions. Cheers.

as for bacteria growth...they will be growing on the spherical surfaces of the glass beads....but the case where u brought up reflection and reflection is something interesting no doubt....

while coral sand is mainly opaque or at most translucent under micro scrutiny....glass beads definitely allow more light through and they will reflect and refact creating a lot of micro mirror surfaces, thats why they appear so white...coz they reflect most of the light around them...to your eyes..to your background...indiscriminately....

thus the algae growth may be more profuse...this i may agree at this point...but defintely we can only wait and see from this thread progress as bro barra's tank mature and then we can see if this problem is indeed inherent or not