Live sand question

[mayb keeper]

I'm considering a 55 gallon tank. My local fishstore employee (a 15 yr old kid) said I would be much better off buying regular sand and adding an additive. I've also read you can mix live and regular sand?
What is true and if I can mix, what is the least amount of live sand I could buy and get by?

 

[acrylic51]

You can buy dry sand or if you can get your hands on some Old Castle sand that will work as well, and you just need a cup of quality LS to seed it, and you'd be fine.......get 5-10lbs.....it doesn't take much, but patience.

 

[maxalmon]

There are basically 2 types of sand, silica and calcium based. The way you tell the difference is if you take a handfull the sand and add some vinegar, the calcium based sand will kinda bubble and fizz while the silica based sand won't. Whitecastle is one of the few brands non-aquarium specific sand that's calcium based and perfectly fine to use in a tank, like acrylic mentioned, if you can find some just buy a cup or two of established sand from a local reefer or LFS and add to the tank.
You'll find some people who say that silica based sand will cause diatom problems, someone a while back mentioned there were several studies which disproved this theory.

Most people including myself will say that you should find a calcium based sand as it helps to buffer the pH.