Hey guys. I'm here in Oceanside. Nice to know there's people around here too. Unfortunatly, the only way to get the southdown sand is to have a friend or relative ship it from back east. It's found at most east coast Home Depot stores. When I was up in Wa., I tried to get my local H.D. to order a pallet for me, but they were unable to. It's nice sand, but I've also used the white silica sand and never saw a difference. The silica debate used to be big on the boards, but I never saw any ill effects from using it. Hope to get to meet you guys some day.
I wouldn't recommend using beach sand. Even though it looks clean, it isn't . I was once told to think of the beach as natures protein skimmer. Hope that helped.
Matt.