My adventure looking for playsand.. Funny

[spankey]

Well here in Eastern Pa we got hit with about 10" of snow the last two days.. This is our first major storm.. So any rate.. I decide while on the road and close to Home Depot, I would stop in and try to find some playsand for a new tank I am setting up this weekend..
I made the mistake of buying sand with silica in it, so I printed out a picture of the "southtown carribean sand" from a thread I searched here... So picture me going into a Home depot in the middle of winter with 10" of snow on the ground looking for playsand... I would have looked like a fool to have to ask the people if they had this type of playsand... The would be like, "don't you mean Rock Salt?"
So any rate, there I am with my 9 year old son.. We get to the concrete isle and sure enough all sections of the playsand are empty... NOT one bag nor even an empty skid.. SO I say to my son, see I am a total morron...Why am I even thinking they are going to have play sand in the middle of the winter... So we start to leave, now mind you the only brand they had seemed to be a "quickcrete" type play sand.. At least thats what the empty section's Id card had in its spot.. So the chances of me finding anything close to what I was looking for was totaly out of the question...
So again, I am heading for the door and you have to picture this, there are only about 15 customers in the entire Home Depot.. I mean we are in the middle of a storm.. And the ones that are in the store are looking for shovels and salt... So the old woman as I am leaving see's my empty cart and goes "Sir is there anything wrong, can I help you?" I kindly state no that they were out of what I wanted... She said "Oh sorry about that".. I say its ok.. Now I was going to leave right there but my stupid sense made me tell here why I was there.. I mean how stupid am I going to look when I tell her I was looking for playsand in a major snow storm....LOL....
So low and behold I turn around and look at this kind old woman and tell her, Ah I was looking for playsand and didn't expect them to have any anyway.... GET THIS, I ALMOST FELL OVER RIGHT THERE IN THE FREGIN' STORE I TELL YA...
This woman looks at me straight faced and goes, sir, "We have two bags of play sand right here behind the counter" I am like ah its the quickcrete stuff.... So OMY HOLLY GODNESS its two bags of Southtown Carribean Sand.....:joy:

:joy:

I look at my son and my son looks at me and says NO WAY!!!!!!!!
I needed exactly two bags to set up a 46 gallon bowfront tank this weekend.. I was estatic.. I looked at my son and said. " I gotta share this with the gang on the forums..."
Figured you guys would get a kick out of this.. So it seems that the Home Depots here in good'ol eastern pa sells southtown, incase anyone is interested.....
I found my sand in a haystack and the Eagles won... It was a great day....
Take care everyone..
I hope you all got a kick out of that story.. I know I did.....
Spankey:yes:

 

[tiggerguy]

ok i got a question now.. first of a take it this is for you saltwater tank.. how well does playsand work.. and what do you do when you get it.. for cycleing and stuff. do you just add some live sand to it or what.. i too will be setting up another large saltwater tank.. and realy do not want to spend 45 bucks a bag at my lfs.. so please tell me how to get this to work and what i would have to buy..

 

[lefty]

You sir are one of the luckiest people ever. I envy you and your sand! I hope it serves your tank well.
-lefty

 

[spankey]

Tigger-
I just do the cocktail shrimp cycle.. Not sure if that helps.. But this sand is from the carribean, so at one time I assume it was live sand.. All you really need is your live rock to say seed the sand.. I just bought about 3 months ago 5 lbs of live rock.. I used normal play sand.. About a week after putting the live rock in the tank, I had copepods crawling all over my glass and such.. I would imagine that they are in the sand as well now... But most people use this as a base then mix say half this and live sand on top.. Eventually it works itself together? I am sure someone here could answer this question better... Not sure if I did correctly or not...
And Lefty--LOL I thought the same thing... You know its something when even your 9 year old son looks at you and is like you lucky nut you....
Spankey

 

[dalerich]

Great find. I used to buy sand all the time before winter storms as dead weight for my pick up truck. I wasn't looking for Southtown Carribean Sand for a fish tank but your not crazy. They were proable sold out because of people with pick ups. Kitty litter works great also but it tends to make the water cloudy and kills the fish. LOL. Good story!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cowfishrule]

i was thinkin the same thing, going to the sand/concete aisle at HD, only to realize the 2 pallets of Southdown they had were outside (this was in sept, not unlike the end of jan)
oh yeah, hope the eagles get dismantled

(bitter minnesota fan)

 

[streetsurf]

Is southdown the only play sand that will work, or is there others??? looking for a cheap substrate for my 90. Also, I live in FL near the west coast, is it possible to go and get my own sand from the beach and just let that cycle???

 

[mudplayerx]

Keep in mind there is more than one texture of play sand.
There is the kind of sand like in playgrounds, and then there is "tropical" play sand that more or less resembles the aragonite you find in local fish stores. Both will work, but the aragonite sand will add important trace elements to your tank that regular play sand wont.
You can always buy trace elements in liquid form and add them later, but the cost of those will probably be expensive (around $15 for a small bottle).
If money isnt a big concern, I'd just buy aragonite sand at the fish store. That way you are positive you are getting what you need. You can save money by buying only 1 small bag of "live sand" and putting it on top of the other aragonite.
ps- i think aragonite aquarium sand looks a whole lot better than regular play sand, but that is just my opinion. Try to keep in mind that a year down the road, you are not going to be looking at ugly sand and thinking, "Wow, I'm glad I saved that 25 bucks." :joy: