Help! No Southdown!

[harlequinnut]

I went to the Home Depot today and was disappointed to see that they didn't have the Southdown playsand. Customer service said they don't carry SD playsand and that they couldn't order the amount that I want for me because it's way too little. They do however have tons of the Quickcrete playsand. They said they have the Old Castle also but I didn't see any. The only one I saw was the Quickcrete PS. Does anyone know the properties of the Quickcrete, is it aragonite or something else. Is it good to use for my fish tank. It doesn't say on the bag if it's aragonite or not. Thank you in advance for your response.

 

[harlequinnut]

Anybody?

 

[krowleey]

i believe i saw ppl saying not to use that certain sand. but old castle was the same as southdown, im not using any myself im using real somoan sand with LS on the top so im not totally sure

 

[scottnj]

I think Quickcrete is not argonite, and it also has a bit of a brownish color.
I went to about 3 different Home Depot's before I found one that had Southdown. Then like with your Old Castle, went into one that showed 160+ bags on the computer but they couldn't find it in the store.
Anyhow... keep looking... and good luck!
_Scott

 

[beaslbob]

The main reason people want southdown is it is a fine white sand. If you can stand a darker sand, I have used play sand from various sources for years. It's about $3.00 for 50 pounds. I little crushed coral on top gives a white appearance.

 

[dacia]

Silica sand also has a tendency to harbor more algae. Adding CC on top will only worsen that problem and also keeps the nitrites high due to trapped detritus...and that would just about defeat the purpose of buying any sand at all, wouldn't it?

 

[dreeves]

If you are willing to spend the money...purearagonite dot com...
Also, the NE isnt a hot spot for SD...I am in CT and have yet to see it anywhere...

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by Dacia
Silica sand also has a tendency to harbor more algae. Adding CC on top will only worsen that problem and also keeps the nitrites high due to trapped detritus...and that would just about defeat the purpose of buying any sand at all, wouldn't it?
thank you for your input.
I presume you meant nitrAtes not nitrItes.
Your observations are very common on this board but not supported by my experience. I control algae and nitrAtes with plant life.

 

[harlequinnut]

Kip, are you saying that if I can get Old Castle that it's as good as Southdown?

 

[dburr]

Also, the NE isnt a hot spot for SD...I am in CT and have yet to see it anywhere...
Really, I'm in south CT and it was all over the place this summer.
Kinda bummed me out cause I couldn't find it last year when I needed it.

 

[donjasper]

I love to watch Sand Lunatics in action.
We found out around here that HD won't ship sand from the east coast unless it's a full truck load. The 'good cop bad cop' thing of begging alternating with arguing for better customer service doesn't work either.
I like the algae thing with silica sand. So silica sand is inherently more fertile?

 

[krowleey]

Kip, are you saying that if I can get Old Castle that it's as good as Southdown?
i believe he is syaing its the same company and same sand.

 

[harlequinnut]

Thanks everybody, I've finally found a HD in my area that had like 20 or so bags of Southdown playsand for 4.99ea. I just picked up 4 bags of it for a little over 20 bucks!

 

[reefraff]

BEWARE! Not all Old Castle is the same I have some that is silica. It has worked great but it ain't the good stuff

 

[harlequinnut]

Thanks for the warning, the bag says its from the caribbean and its silica free.

 

[dreeves]

dburr...where in south CT are you? I have three HD's up here around Windsor, Manchester and Berlin which do not have it...they carry the quickrete instead.

 

[dreeves]

Their playsand is the Quickrete at these 3. One of them had a "last years" bag of SD, which was torn open and lumpy..figured it best not to buy that bag...other then that..notta

 

[scottnj]

Someone posted the HD sku # a little while back. I got that and just started to call every HD in the area to see who had it. Then asked them to go and visually check for me to see if they could find it. (After first going to one place that 'had it' and walking all over the store trying to find it.)
Anyhow, in every case they all also had the Quickcrete playsand, and tried to tell me that was what they sold. But once I convinced them to look up the sku they were like oh hmmmmm we should have this too.
Good Luck
-Scott

 

[jp0379]

the Home Depot's have moved the playsand from in the garden center to the building supply area of all the stores here in Louisiana. Just in case someone is looking for it in the garden center and can't find it, try the new section.

 

[dburr]

Dreeves: Call Waterford, they had 2 pallets not to long ago.