hotjeepinmomma
Member
I've herd of people using play sand for there salt water tanks, like Quikrete play Sand it says its sterilized, strained and screened...any one against it or used it etc...Thanks
Any one ever used play sand??
- Thread starter hotjeepinmomma
- Start date
shrimpi
Active Member
I used half play sand and half LS from a larger tank to make a little 5g tank once. It was fine I guess. I kept getting alot of cyano but that may have been due to lack of flow.
play sand usually has alot of silicate in it which will cause problems.
I would just suck it up and buy the LS and be done with it. Im sure there are plenty of success stories with play sand but, I wouldnt take the chance... also, the playsand was MUCH finer grain than my regular LS and it seemed to get 'kicked up' easier and make the water cloudy easier.
Im not a fan of it.
JMO.
Good Luck though!
Jessica.
play sand usually has alot of silicate in it which will cause problems.
I would just suck it up and buy the LS and be done with it. Im sure there are plenty of success stories with play sand but, I wouldnt take the chance... also, the playsand was MUCH finer grain than my regular LS and it seemed to get 'kicked up' easier and make the water cloudy easier.
Im not a fan of it.
JMO.
Good Luck though!
Jessica.
aspinn
New Member
really? wow i didnt know it did that haha... do you know of another brand of of sand that may be suitable... i cant find any canadian sites were i can get live sand... and my LFS only focus's on freshwater, i manage to find a site that will ship fish/liverock but no sand (jlaquatics.com)... any ideas what i can use instead?
(o sorry for the hijack)
(o sorry for the hijack)
acrylic51
Active Member
Originally Posted by Buckeye88
DON'T DO IT!! Speaking from experience, it's pure silica! You will never get rid of the diatomes and cyano until you get rid of the sand!!
After some reading some might understand it has nothing to do with the silicia.....Some research has been done on that topic by some welll respected people in the hobby and it's been misproven.....
DON'T DO IT!! Speaking from experience, it's pure silica! You will never get rid of the diatomes and cyano until you get rid of the sand!!
After some reading some might understand it has nothing to do with the silicia.....Some research has been done on that topic by some welll respected people in the hobby and it's been misproven.....
maxalmon
Active Member
Originally Posted by hotjeepinmomma
I've herd of people using play sand for there salt water tanks, like Quikrete play Sand it says its sterilized, strained and screened...any one against it or used it etc...Thanks
There's 2 types of sand, silica and calcium based. The way you tell the difference is mix the sand with some vinegar and if it starts to bubble/fizz then it's aragonite or calcium based and should be fine in your tank.
Besides the biological surface area that sand provides, it also helps with buffering the tank pH.
Originally Posted by acrylic51
After some reading some might understand it has nothing to do with the silicia.....Some research has been done on that topic by some welll respected people in the hobby and it's been misproven.....
Do you have links to any of the research, I've know a few people who've used silica sand and had no problems and then some who've used it and it's turned into a nightmare....
I've herd of people using play sand for there salt water tanks, like Quikrete play Sand it says its sterilized, strained and screened...any one against it or used it etc...Thanks
There's 2 types of sand, silica and calcium based. The way you tell the difference is mix the sand with some vinegar and if it starts to bubble/fizz then it's aragonite or calcium based and should be fine in your tank.
Besides the biological surface area that sand provides, it also helps with buffering the tank pH.
Originally Posted by acrylic51
After some reading some might understand it has nothing to do with the silicia.....Some research has been done on that topic by some welll respected people in the hobby and it's been misproven.....
Do you have links to any of the research, I've know a few people who've used silica sand and had no problems and then some who've used it and it's turned into a nightmare....
acrylic51
Active Member
Do some searching over on the big reef site, and it's greatly talked about there and information cited as well from some of the well respected people in the hobby on that subject.......You don't get as much buffering affect from the sand as most people think or are led to believe.....
acrylic51
Active Member
Besides the biological surface area that sand provides, it also helps with buffering the tank pH.
If it helps with buffering the tanks, why are BB tanks able to handle the load and support some of the most demanding corals? Your point on the biological surface area of the sand to support bacteria is dead on IMO......with that being said why would it honestly matter if it's calcium based?
Regardless all sand beds need to be maintenanced and that's where most problems or issues arise with the sand beds.
If it helps with buffering the tanks, why are BB tanks able to handle the load and support some of the most demanding corals? Your point on the biological surface area of the sand to support bacteria is dead on IMO......with that being said why would it honestly matter if it's calcium based?
Regardless all sand beds need to be maintenanced and that's where most problems or issues arise with the sand beds.
apos
Member
Diatoms don't need silica sand to reproduce. It's been proven in a lab that they will litterally pull silica right out of the glass if they need it (no kidding: they did this with just water and a diatom in a glass beaker). What causes them is more the conditions for them to spread and thrive rather than the mere prescence of silica.
1journeyman
Active Member
See my Signature...
Southdown aka Old Castle aka Yardright was a clean, aragonite-based, fine grain sand that is perfect for a sand bed. Unfortunately it's virtually impossible to find anymore.
Southdown aka Old Castle aka Yardright was a clean, aragonite-based, fine grain sand that is perfect for a sand bed. Unfortunately it's virtually impossible to find anymore.
apos
Member
What happened to the brand anyway? Seemed super popular with reefers.... but I guess the LFS industry caught on and figured it was no fun us getting good sand without charging an arm and leg, hunh?
I love the idea of bagged "live sand" though. Same poundage as a bag of dry sand... but with less sand (water takes up the weight) and the "live" part is just the exact same bacteria you can grow anywhere. Some things in this industry are great... some are giant ripoffs for unwary buyers.
I love the idea of bagged "live sand" though. Same poundage as a bag of dry sand... but with less sand (water takes up the weight) and the "live" part is just the exact same bacteria you can grow anywhere. Some things in this industry are great... some are giant ripoffs for unwary buyers.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by Apos
http:///forum/post/2453485
What happened to the brand anyway? Seemed super popular with reefers.... but I guess the LFS industry caught on and figured it was no fun us getting good sand without charging an arm and leg, hunh?
I love the idea of bagged "live sand" though. Same poundage as a bag of dry sand... but with less sand (water takes up the weight) and the "live" part is just the exact same bacteria you can grow anywhere. Some things in this industry are great... some are giant ripoffs for unwary buyers.
I highly suspect you are dead on...
Southdown started printing on their bags "Not for Aquarium use" suddenly and the sand became harder to find.
I had an interesting experience when I called the company looking to see where the closest store was they were selling sand. This was about 6 years ago, when you could still find the sand occasionally in the stores. I found a phone number on the web and called. Got sent to another person, then transfered again. The woman asked why I was looking for it and I told her for my aquarium. She told me to hold and transfered me again. The person she transfered me to answered the phone "Caribsea, can I help you".
Now, either the woman who transferred me had Caribsea on speeddial and dialed the number for me, or else they were one in the same....
Like I said, this was 6 years ago. I am almost positive it was Caribsea, but it could have been one of the other major suppliers of packaged sand. Details are foggy after 6 years, but I'm 99% sure it was Caribsea.
http:///forum/post/2453485
What happened to the brand anyway? Seemed super popular with reefers.... but I guess the LFS industry caught on and figured it was no fun us getting good sand without charging an arm and leg, hunh?
I love the idea of bagged "live sand" though. Same poundage as a bag of dry sand... but with less sand (water takes up the weight) and the "live" part is just the exact same bacteria you can grow anywhere. Some things in this industry are great... some are giant ripoffs for unwary buyers.
I highly suspect you are dead on...
Southdown started printing on their bags "Not for Aquarium use" suddenly and the sand became harder to find.
I had an interesting experience when I called the company looking to see where the closest store was they were selling sand. This was about 6 years ago, when you could still find the sand occasionally in the stores. I found a phone number on the web and called. Got sent to another person, then transfered again. The woman asked why I was looking for it and I told her for my aquarium. She told me to hold and transfered me again. The person she transfered me to answered the phone "Caribsea, can I help you".
Now, either the woman who transferred me had Caribsea on speeddial and dialed the number for me, or else they were one in the same....
Like I said, this was 6 years ago. I am almost positive it was Caribsea, but it could have been one of the other major suppliers of packaged sand. Details are foggy after 6 years, but I'm 99% sure it was Caribsea.
maxalmon
Active Member
That would make pefect sense, why else would they put on the bag
"not for aquarium use" Has anyone tried testing some of the other sands available thru the harware stores? Most of the time I can pretty much just look at it and tell, maybe I'll start paying attention the nest time I'm in homedepot.
"not for aquarium use" Has anyone tried testing some of the other sands available thru the harware stores? Most of the time I can pretty much just look at it and tell, maybe I'll start paying attention the nest time I'm in homedepot.
notsonoob
Member
Originally Posted by maxalmon
http:///forum/post/2453810
That would make pefect sense, why else would they put on the bag
"not for aquarium use" Has anyone tried testing some of the other sands available thru the harware stores? Most of the time I can pretty much just look at it and tell, maybe I'll start paying attention the nest time I'm in homedepot.
Especially at 4 bucks for a 50 pound bag of sand...
I would think that anything you use is going to be filtered out during your first month free cycle anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http:///forum/post/2453810
That would make pefect sense, why else would they put on the bag
"not for aquarium use" Has anyone tried testing some of the other sands available thru the harware stores? Most of the time I can pretty much just look at it and tell, maybe I'll start paying attention the nest time I'm in homedepot.
Especially at 4 bucks for a 50 pound bag of sand...
I would think that anything you use is going to be filtered out during your first month free cycle anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
apos
Member
I read somewhere that someone at Home Depot told them straight out the manufacturer had figured out that they could make lots more money selling exclusively to fish stores than to home depot and so had stopped supplying home depot entirely. I also know that southdown got bought out a few years ago.
I believe that whomever mined a particular sort of aragonite sand had sort of a monopoly on the location, which allowed them to jack up the price.
I believe that whomever mined a particular sort of aragonite sand had sort of a monopoly on the location, which allowed them to jack up the price.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by Apos
http:///forum/post/2454025
I read somewhere that someone at Home Depot told them straight out the manufacturer had figured out that they could make lots more money selling exclusively to fish stores than to home depot and so had stopped supplying home depot entirely. I also know that southdown got bought out a few years ago.
I believe that whomever mined a particular sort of aragonite sand had sort of a monopoly on the location, which allowed them to jack up the price.
Ya, "Yardright" is the last company that I know of. And yes, it did seem like there was only one quarry where it was shipping from.
http:///forum/post/2454025
I read somewhere that someone at Home Depot told them straight out the manufacturer had figured out that they could make lots more money selling exclusively to fish stores than to home depot and so had stopped supplying home depot entirely. I also know that southdown got bought out a few years ago.
I believe that whomever mined a particular sort of aragonite sand had sort of a monopoly on the location, which allowed them to jack up the price.
Ya, "Yardright" is the last company that I know of. And yes, it did seem like there was only one quarry where it was shipping from.
apos
Member
I'm guessing Caribsea bought everything out. It's pretty ridiculous that something that obviously only costs a dollar or two to get and ship to stores (since they only charged about 4 dollars when they used to sell it in HD) for 50pounds is now close to 70$ for 50 pounds, depending on where you find it. They must be laughing all the way to the bank.