Clarification needed on DSB substrate

[dam]

I started my new 42G hex cycling 6 weeks ago w/ CC. I finally broke this wk and decided I should head the advice of most on this board and throw out the CC for a DSB before I start adding livestock. The Lowes and Home Depot here carry only brown Quickrete play sand. No ID of type of material in their sand. I then called 2 LFS in the area who both carry aragonite sand which I understand is the preferred substrate. I was disappointed that at both stores the 'sand' was rather coarse and appeared only to be much more finely ground CC. After reading all of the comments on using SD play sand I had expectations of a much finer aragonite sand. Both carried Carib-Sea brand.
My question is if there really is a fine aragonite sand like I expected? I am not sure if I had a wrong expectation or if they just carried a less desireable sand for my DSB. Also would appreciate anyone aware of a good source for sand in the Hampton Roads VA area.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[fshhub]

aragonite, is the preferred,a dn southdown is aragonite.
the sands you mentioned definitely sound like silica sands
and the carib-sea products mentioned sound like cc
FORTUNATELY, carib-sea does package a whole line of sands, from very fie to very course. Maybe you could ask them to get you some
ask for aragamax, if they carry carib sea products.
good luck, and HTH

 

[jrein40806]

I mixed live sand from the lfs with the Yardright. If you look close enough the Yardright is finer.

 

[fshhub]

forgot about yardright, it is sometimes available where southdown is not, smae stuff.
as for coarseness, there are different grades available as we are seeing here, for aragonite wheich can be gotten at the LFS

 

[dam]

Thanks for clarifying the different grades from carib-sea, I guess I should have researched that myself on their site. I have now done a little more homework about the different opinions on granule size for subtstrates. Sounds like there is no 'one way' although it woud appear the preference is for finer, 'sugar size', granules for the most part in a DSB with a little larger granules sometimes being referenced as good to mix in.
When asking for LS at LFS to seed DSB, both wanted to sell me packaged carib-sea live sand. 20# bag of wet sand which was advertised as having desired bacteria. That sounds like only part of the requirement. Although that would be a step in the right direction, I am under the impression that there are other desired critters such as worms that I would want in the sand to keep things mixed up/circulated. It doesn't sound like the type of thing well suited to buy in a prepackaged bag! Opinions or experience here would be appreciated.
I am off to find a cheap source of aragonite fine sand, I don't think I want to invest $100-$200 for 'official' name brand tank sand.
Dave

 

[crazy8]

Good luck finding aragonite based sand where you are at. I am in VA also and have looked at all the local Home Depots (and I mean withing 100 miles) and had no luck on Southdown, Yardright or any other name it is under. I finally read up on some other threads and saw where many have had success with Silica based sands as well and went with a nice colored sand I found at a local nursery.
If you are able to find the Southdown in your area, please post back where you got it so I can get some in the future. Also, I know that you shouldn't advertise other peoples websites here so I will just tell you that I was able to find a place on the web that sold Aragonite sand for about $15 a bag. Lots cheaper than the LFS selling CaribSea but still more expensive than the $2-4 for Southdown.
As for the other "creatures" you will need for your DSB, let the tank cycle first then get some crabs and snails that will keep the DSB stirred up a little. There are many different options for this but from what I have read, watch what you put together. Many of the bottom cleaners are pretty agressive towards the other cleaners that you can get.

 

[wrassecal]

Just an idea but southdown is also sold under the name Old Castle now if you haven't already checked under that name. As for worms, pods and other creatures you need for your dsb do you know any other aqaurists in your area with a dsb. A cupful from the top of their dsb would help. Also, I get "reef rubble" for free from my lfs. I make sure to get it out of tanks where I know it's been sitting for a while. It will come with many hitchhikers that you can't really tell are there...like the worms, pods etc. Also, if you buy cultured live rock you will get these. They will multiply in your dsb. The snails I recommend the most for a dsb are nassarius, althoughf or your tank you will want a variety. HTH

 

[brewercm]

I second the idea that you'll get plenty of critters from any live rock that you put in. I changed over to sand from crushed coral (the courser sand mixed with sugar size) about 2 months ago. The only live sand I included was the wet stuff from carib-sea with no worms or pods included. Now at night when the lights are out you can see the worms (mostly bristle) burowing up from the sand bed all over the place, kind of cool cause they leave little mounds everywhere.