# Estes Ultra Reef Marine Sand



## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

I didn't see any reviews of this product in the review section. I dumped a little 5 lb bag into a bucket about a week ago and partially filled it with water to get an idea of how the sand looks. It's been clumped up with some grains floating all week.

Anybody have any experiences with this product? Other than the problems noted above, the colour looks pretty good. I'm wondering if it will settle once it's in a tank and if so, how long this would take?

Thanks.


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## DrgRcr (Jun 23, 2009)

I have Estes in my 20g shellie tank. It does look good, I noticed the same thing you did when I first put it in, and it did eventually settle. I tried to help it along a bit by breaking up the clumps and pushing them down. It is definately lighter than the other types I have(3M Color Quartz-S-Grade and Carib Sea Tahitian Moon) and disturbs real easy. If I had my choice, I'd try to find either some left over CQ or the product that supposedly took it's place(Spectraquartz).


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

Thanks for the reply to my post. Do you have the white Estes? I'm wondering if you can comment on what the color is like in comparison to the white CQ. The white CQ i've seen photos of looks like it's a really stark white...whereas the Estes is slightly off white.


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## DrgRcr (Jun 23, 2009)

I can't really say about the white, I have black in both. But they are both pretty close in color as far as that goes.


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## Lacey131 (Sep 26, 2010)

i have 100lb of pink Bimini in my 75g and it is really nice after the first few weeks of filter catching some of the floating stuff. but having up for 3 years being a marine tank then converted to fronts once drained and drained and drained and then drained again lol but now it is still really beautiful.. Good luck


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

I love the Estes sand. A little pricey, but it's *clean*. A couple quick rinses and you're done. I've found that the white and black are a little coarser than the beige, and you can practically use a gravel vac on it. No worries about it winding up in a filter either. Floating grains will eventually sink.

I've been mixing the white or beige up with a pinch of the black to give it a little more visual texture.

Great stuff.

-Ryan


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to give it a try. I like the idea of adding just a little black sand to make it look more natural. :thumb:


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

Quick update from me: I put 60lbs of beige (added 1TBS of black to each 5lb bag) in the 125g. Love it. Gave each bag of it just two quick rinses and dumped it in. Crystal clear the next morning.

I love this stuff.

-Ryan


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## Eric_S (Feb 27, 2007)

Just stir the water up with your hand and the estes sand with sink. You don't have to sit there and wait for it to sink on its own. I used it for a shellie tank and it worked great.


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