homedepot sand

richkid03

richkid03

Member
:confused: After reading a reply to one of my previous posts I purchased some play sand, not tropical play sand, but play sand. My friend threw some cocktail shrimp (with tails) and threw them into the tank, these are the shrimp that you would just dip in cocktail sauce and eat. Two questions,
1) A guy at my LFS said that sand is junk and Im going to have a problem with hair algae, my tank is on a 20L so I cant put a tang in there to take care of this, will I be OK with this sand or should I shell out the few extra bucks and get the good stuff?
2) Will the 2 shrimp put in my tank do the same job as if they were raw w/o tails? Please help!!!!
Rich
 
gfk

gfk

Member
it has to be aragonite (sp?)
i went there and they only had one kind, and i posted it here and everyone told me NO.
i just bought non live sand from the lfs, and put my liverock in and there is already some little worms and stuff climbin around in the sand.
 
C

chris420

Guest
i have reg play sand in my reef no problems just more chem to add
 
kdfrosty

kdfrosty

Active Member
Wait until all levels (ammonia, nitirites, nitrates) reach 0. This took my tank about 4 weeks. After all levels reach 0, do a 15% water change.
Exactly what kind of sand did you buy?
 
kdfrosty

kdfrosty

Active Member

Originally posted by richkid03
quickcrete premium play sand.
That sand has silica. It is debatable as to whether this is ok in a SWA. My Home Depot had the exact same stuff, and I passed. Sand should be aragonite based, IMO.
 
smallfry

smallfry

Member
I used the same sand in January and my water has been slightly coudy ever since.
I have been going back and forth if I should change out the sand.
I wish I had just started out with sand from the lfs......
 
richkid03

richkid03

Member
No problems with hair algae? Also, if I were to put a mandarin in my 20L would that be enough room? The guy that said I would have a problem with the sand said that this fish should also have at least a 75. Im starting to think that this guy doesn't know as much as I thought he did.
 
richkid03

richkid03

Member
My water is still cloudy and Im running a magnum 220, and a whisper1, with a whisper5 motor. Im starting to think I need to switch it out for that exact reason!
 
richkid03

richkid03

Member
I see a few abreviations fairly often on this site, but dont know what they mean.
1) Bump
2)IMO
There are others, but I cant remember what they are at this point in time.
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member

Originally posted by richkid03
No problems with hair algae? Also, if I were to put a mandarin in my 20L would that be enough room? The guy that said I would have a problem with the sand said that this fish should also have at least a 75. Im starting to think that this guy doesn't know as much as I thought he did.
the tang should be in at least a 75, and the manderin should be in at least a 100 (i think thats it). the mandarin needs lots and lots of life in the sandbed, as that is his food supply.
for once, your lfs guy knows whats up. as for hair algae, lots of coraline will prevent this, as will a herd of astreas.
 
bailey52

bailey52

Member
people say bump when noone has responded to their thread, so when they say bump, it puts that post back at the top of the discussion board
 
C

chris420

Guest
im running awet dry 750gal hr cloudy for 4 days with that same sand also a top filter rated for 100gal on 90
 
richkid03

richkid03

Member
After cleaning the glass I realized that the tank wasn't cloudy, but just some sand on the glass. Its actually crystal clear. I think its from the overpowering filter, as I said above Im running a magnum 220 (which sucks for Oscars) and a whisper1 w/ a 5motor. I dont have a r/o unit, Im thinking about getting a lawnmower blenny, I know they eat algae, but would that eat the hair algae?
 
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