Glass Beads Sandbed

[BarraCudaTM]

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.

Light wont be able to penetrate more than 10mm deep into the sandbed. If you look from the side, only the top few mm have a brighter shade. No doubt algae will grow on them but they will always be at least 1 shade whiter than coral sand.

As for bacteria, the surface area of Size 10 beads is actually much higher than C0 sand. 75kg of it can only yield about 2"+ in height and being finer the denitrification bacteria can grow better as there are even less oxygen in such high density.

[Golden Tooth]

This is interesting. We use glass beads in blasting machine to polish some of the parts.

Do keep us update.

[Joe_P]

What do you mean? Like quicksand??

Serious..... think we had this discussion previously in SRC....

think Tanzy brought up a thread regarding the usage of glass beads as a alternative to coral sand...

Can't really recall whether the thread got woped out with a previous crash....

but one of the points mentioned from the experience of reefers in UK was that such media does create problems with Liverock stability....

think it had to be due to the consistency of the beads roundness which create problems for media to "hold" to each other.....

and I reckon that this is definitely a issue to be aware of..

therefore rock racks are recommend for the long term stability of rock structure.....

[Achilles Tang]

Hmmm... then maybe reef racks may be in order... barracuda?

[BarraCudaTM]

You got to see it in person then you will realise it wont happen. The size 10 is mud like, quite impossible to slide

[rockfish]

is there any bro or sis out there who working in a sandblasting company and can help us order at a cheaper price .. ?

and btw bro barracuda, wouldn't size 8 be better.. ?? since 10 is too fine ..

[19percula]

are u sure the sand can be used? u do not know whther there is any chemcial mix in it a not?

[rockfish]

aiyo... read the front then read the back ... its glass beads... not sand...

[BarraCudaTM]

is there any bro or sis out there who working in a sandblasting company and can help us order at a cheaper price .. ?

and btw bro barracuda, wouldn't size 8 be better.. ?? since 10 is too fine ..

I would recommend size 3 or larger

[BarraCudaTM]

I have found that landslide is possible when there is a tunze around. The tunze will blow away the sand underneath the rocks and cause the rocks to be unstable.

The foundation must be laid before rock scaping. I buried small pieces of dead corals and LR in the sand, this must be buried in where the main rock will sit.

[yus75]

hi bro been using tis for mths.....fyi it may look very nice initially ....but u wil find lots of fine "linings" in the bed after tat....guess its the worms job....after all i take it as natural view....

[junyong84]

wow...its lovely..might consider to get it...when... i upgrade...

[BarraCudaTM]

diatoms is growing now.. seems like denitrification is taking place, there are small air bubbles trapped and releasing from the sandbed. nitrate = undetectable

[AlfaRomeo]

Bro, hows the sandbed doing now?

[junyong84]

eee... then e glass wld be damn dirty...hw to clean...

[BarraCudaTM]

Sad to say, this project will be terminated soon. I'm going to get my tank replaced and going to throw away the sand due to ISOPODS contamination.

Summary of this short lived project.

Size10 is too fine to be used

The glass beads must have flat pieces of liverocks buried to lay the foundation for the LR as the beads will move if you have a strong powerhead (tunze).

Bubbles will rise among the glass beads and will carry a few glass beads together with it. The bubbles will then pop and release the beads all over the place.

Unfortunately, I'm unable watch this sandbed matures and do not have the luxury to spend another fortune buying them.

[roidan]

bro, u mean you already gotten fish loss from isopods ah...they really eat up the fishes?

[BarraCudaTM]

no .. I didnt place any fish during this period but they will attack any meaty stuff including live fishes because they attack my snails and my shrimp bait.

[Clownfish]

bro, u mean you already gotten fish loss from isopods ah...they really eat up the fishes?

that's scary

[Clownfish]

no .. I didnt place any fish during this period but they will attack any meaty stuff including live fishes because they attack my snails and my shrimp bait.

i thot someone mentioned before the suggestion of "fishing" out isopods with bait?

u mean there r too many of them?

[BarraCudaTM]

It simply doesnt work well. I dont know what they feed on and I have no fishes inside the tank but I still catch isopods with a red body which maybe blood and those tiny isopods dont seem to get any lesser eventhough I caught over 70 of them over the weeks

[Achilles Tang]

Sad to say, this project will be terminated soon. I'm going to get my tank replaced and going to throw away the sand due to ISOPODS contamination.

Summary of this short lived project.

Size10 is too fine to be used

The glass beads must have flat pieces of liverocks buried to lay the foundation for the LR as the beads will move if you have a strong powerhead (tunze).

Bubbles will rise among the glass beads and will carry a few glass beads together with it. The bubbles will then pop and release the beads all over the place.

Unfortunately, I'm unable watch this sandbed matures and do not have the luxury to spend another fortune buying them.

Thanks Barra, for the experience shared!

Sorry that it didn't work out as planned... but as least you will be getting rid of the Isopod plague!

AT

[BarraCudaTM]

I'm thinking a 30mins freshwater dip for my liverocks .. do you think the isopods will still hide inside unharmed?

[BarraCudaTM]

double post

[AlfaRomeo]

Barra. any idea where did the isopods originate from? did they come together with the LR that you bought?