Substrate in AZ

I am currently constructing a temperate reef and need some advice on substrate choice. I live in Arizona so i could make a trip to Cali and collect my own. I just thought i would ask if there was any success to be had from trying to use something local.

San Diego County has some nice clean beaches for you to collect sand. I would check areas of North County (Encinitas, La Jolla, Luecadia). Newport in Orange County has some orange sand if you don't want gray or white.

I would do sand, of course that's my personal preference. Local sand in my experience is seeded and helps to jump start your tank. You often find unexpected critters. I discovered sand crabs and nudis in mine.

Welcome to the site lol. I was waiting for you to finally post!

Pufferfreak wrote:San Diego County has some nice clean beaches for you to collect sand. I would check areas of North County (Encinitas, La Jolla, Luecadia). Newport in Orange County has some orange sand if you don't want gray or white.

I would do sand, of course that's my personal preference. Local sand in my experience is seeded and helps to jump start your tank. You often find unexpected critters. I discovered sand crabs and nudis in mine.

Welcome to the site lol. I was waiting for you to finally post!

Thank you, i was thinking about sand i just noticed more of a small grade gravel in alot of systems. Is this more east coast?

I don't know about the East Coast, but I tend to think of Pacific Northwest regions having more "gravely" beaches as opposed to California. One prime example of an Atlantic Ocean temperate tank with a sand substrate is Jon Olavs aquarium.

do you lose the natural buffering capabilities that you would have with sand if you used small gravel. I would assume so, but i was wondering if anyone who has gravel has had problems with PH or KH stability.

Maybe some of the other members can help you since I haven't used gravel in my marine aquariums.