mcowart
Member
I've been in the process of starting up a new tank for the past few weeks. I started out with some CaribSea substrate that the lfs through in when I bought the tank. It only took me a few days to realize that it was way too big for what I wanted. So, I started researching and decided on the Fiji Pink Reef Sand because it was small enough for sifters but not quite sugar fine.
So, I checked around locally and none of the LFSes had anything but the Arag-Alive in that kind, so I searched online for the regular sand. I found some for a pretty resonable price, so I ordered 60 pds thinking that I could get 20 pds of the Arag-Alive from the LFs and seed it into the dead sand. I got the stuff from the LFS into my tank last week to let it go ahead and start its cycle since it had bacteria and might bring along another ammonia spike with its introduction.
Well, I was very pleased with this sand and have been anxiously awaiting my online order to come in so I could finish getting all my substrate into my tank. So, tonight as soon as I got home I started getting my bucket all set to wash it and everything, and I encountered my first setback. When I opened the shipping box that the bags came in, I found that one of the bags had a hole in it and had lost some sand. It wasn't that big of a deal as it only lost a pound or so. However, upon inspecting the hole in the bag, I noticed something that bothered me.
On the each of the bas of sand, there is a label at the bottom with a bar code that tells what kind of sand is in the bag as well as a brief description for uses. When I looked closer to the label, I noticed that there was another label under it, and so, with my inquiring mind as it is, I pulled off the first label to investigate. When I did found that there was actually another label that was actually printed on the bag. The label on the bag was for Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand ( slightly larger than the one I wanted). The middle label was for Aragamax Select sand. Then finally the label for my Fiji Pink sand was placed on top. This is the same way on each of the 4 bags.
This alarmed me and I tried checking it against the stuff I already have in my tank and the new seems to have a few slightly larger bits in it and I am really confused as to what the deal is. I chose this online company after seeing that they had over 8800 transactions on a certain auction site with over a 99% rating. Seemed like a safe bet to me.
After all this explanation, my question is has anyone else ever experienced this with CaribSea substrates or have I just been scammed into cheaper sand than what I purchased? Thanks so much for any light that you might be able to shine on this for me.
So, I checked around locally and none of the LFSes had anything but the Arag-Alive in that kind, so I searched online for the regular sand. I found some for a pretty resonable price, so I ordered 60 pds thinking that I could get 20 pds of the Arag-Alive from the LFs and seed it into the dead sand. I got the stuff from the LFS into my tank last week to let it go ahead and start its cycle since it had bacteria and might bring along another ammonia spike with its introduction.
Well, I was very pleased with this sand and have been anxiously awaiting my online order to come in so I could finish getting all my substrate into my tank. So, tonight as soon as I got home I started getting my bucket all set to wash it and everything, and I encountered my first setback. When I opened the shipping box that the bags came in, I found that one of the bags had a hole in it and had lost some sand. It wasn't that big of a deal as it only lost a pound or so. However, upon inspecting the hole in the bag, I noticed something that bothered me.
On the each of the bas of sand, there is a label at the bottom with a bar code that tells what kind of sand is in the bag as well as a brief description for uses. When I looked closer to the label, I noticed that there was another label under it, and so, with my inquiring mind as it is, I pulled off the first label to investigate. When I did found that there was actually another label that was actually printed on the bag. The label on the bag was for Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand ( slightly larger than the one I wanted). The middle label was for Aragamax Select sand. Then finally the label for my Fiji Pink sand was placed on top. This is the same way on each of the 4 bags.
This alarmed me and I tried checking it against the stuff I already have in my tank and the new seems to have a few slightly larger bits in it and I am really confused as to what the deal is. I chose this online company after seeing that they had over 8800 transactions on a certain auction site with over a 99% rating. Seemed like a safe bet to me.
After all this explanation, my question is has anyone else ever experienced this with CaribSea substrates or have I just been scammed into cheaper sand than what I purchased? Thanks so much for any light that you might be able to shine on this for me.
