A
alexmir
Guest
what is the type of play sand that people use as sand in their tank? Im thinking of using it for my new 180G rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a brand name sand....
alix2.0
Active Member
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/330305/bulk-play-sand
post #7 is as far as i read, but this thread has quite a bit of info.
post #7 is as far as i read, but this thread has quite a bit of info.
scsinet
Active Member
I'm not a fan of this practice. The thing is that in a saltwater tank, the substrate is not just there for visual aspects.
It forms a part of the water chemistry - I.E. buffering. If you just leave it out or replace it with something that is not calcium based (like sand), unless you have a forkton of live rock, you may have issues keeping your pH stable, not to mention the difficulty in finding sand that doesn't have God knows what in it that you don't want.
I can tell you from close, personal experience that unfortunately with a tank the size of a 180g, especially if it's a reef, there is very little that comes cheap. By the same token, that makes the investment in proper substate a very small part of the total project cost.
Think long and hard before cheaping out on this one.
It forms a part of the water chemistry - I.E. buffering. If you just leave it out or replace it with something that is not calcium based (like sand), unless you have a forkton of live rock, you may have issues keeping your pH stable, not to mention the difficulty in finding sand that doesn't have God knows what in it that you don't want.
I can tell you from close, personal experience that unfortunately with a tank the size of a 180g, especially if it's a reef, there is very little that comes cheap. By the same token, that makes the investment in proper substate a very small part of the total project cost.
Think long and hard before cheaping out on this one.
renogaw
Active Member
home depot does have pavestone:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/323463/pavestone-high-desert-play-sand/20#post_2645081
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/323463/pavestone-high-desert-play-sand/20#post_2645081
mboswell1982
Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw http:///forum/post/2877824
home depot does have pavestone:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/323463/pavestone-high-desert-play-sand/20#post_2645081
so ren, the pavestone is safe for a tank then is what your saying, right? cause if it is, imma buy a bag of it, an then get a cup of live sand to seed it with
home depot does have pavestone:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/323463/pavestone-high-desert-play-sand/20#post_2645081
so ren, the pavestone is safe for a tank then is what your saying, right? cause if it is, imma buy a bag of it, an then get a cup of live sand to seed it with
bizzmoneyb
Member
Originally Posted by mboswell1982
http:///forum/post/2877860
so ren, the pavestone is safe for a tank then is what your saying, right? cause if it is, imma buy a bag of it, an then get a cup of live sand to seed it with
from what I read it seems to matter where that particular "pavestone" was mined. seems the stuff from missouri IS silica based, and massachusettes is NOT. you DO NOT want silica based sand. how you can tell what bag was mined where I have no idea.
as they said in those posts I guess do the vinegar test to see.
like net said, think long and hard on going cheap on anything in this hobby. ive learned it the hard way. do everything 100%.. it'll save you in the end.
http:///forum/post/2877860
so ren, the pavestone is safe for a tank then is what your saying, right? cause if it is, imma buy a bag of it, an then get a cup of live sand to seed it with
from what I read it seems to matter where that particular "pavestone" was mined. seems the stuff from missouri IS silica based, and massachusettes is NOT. you DO NOT want silica based sand. how you can tell what bag was mined where I have no idea.
as they said in those posts I guess do the vinegar test to see.
like net said, think long and hard on going cheap on anything in this hobby. ive learned it the hard way. do everything 100%.. it'll save you in the end.