Play sand use in a tank..

[polysiman]

I have heard of a couple of people who use Home Depot or Lowes play box sand for their tanks. I want really white sand and most of the LS I have seen is not as white as the play sand is. I went to my LFS and they had sand similar to play sand (dry), but for 30 buck for 20 pounds. It looks like the same stuff I saw at Home depot. Can it be used? Does it function similar to LS after a while? Any thoughts?

 

[mx mr bean]

i suppose but the reason u are paying more money for the sand at the fish store is because it is live sand(meaning it has helpful bacteria that will help cycle ur tank in it). if u use the play sand it will take longer. it also helps to add a peice or two of live rock(i especially reccommend LR if ur using play sand). btw u could go to a beach and pick some up for free

 

[marvida]

It depends on the play sand. In some parts of the country play sand is calcium carbonate based. Out West we can only get silica based sand at Lowes & Home depot. The calcium based sand, after a rinse, will work fine. I don't believe that I would use the silica type sand. It does take a while for "dead" sand to become "live" sand but if you seed it with a little live sand it will happen pretty fast.

 

[maelv]

But he is talking about the dry aragonite sand that the LFS is selling. Which by the way, is steep for a 20 lb bag. I bought my dry aragonite sugar grained sand (Caribsea) from a LFS and it was 30 lbs for $21 plus tax....I purchased 150 lbs (5 bags) for just over $100
Now, Lowe's sand.....don't know...but Home Depot (HD) has a brand that tons of folks from another forum I am a member of were buying like it was going out of style. I went and bought a couple of bags for my boss, and she has since set up a 5 gallon in her office, a 30 gallon, 55, and 75 using this sand. There are good and bad reasons to doing this. Just search on this site for "play sand" and you'll get all sorts of opinions and thoughts. My recommendation to you would be to rinse the sand out first very very well, to get rid of all the dust in there, that is if you go the HD route.
If you are starting a new tank you will have to cycle anyhow, so you'll be okay, just make sure you really wash that sand out. Here is the sand you should be able to find at HD in the gardening section. Good luck and welcome to the forums.
From another website
Did I just find the grail? There is a pallet of "PAVESTONE Pulverized Limestone"
Here is what the bag says:
Calcium 38%
Calcium Carbonate Equivalent 95%
Magnesium less than 2%
Relative Neutralizing Value 83.63%
It is passing the vinegar test, and it is quite fine.
$4.61 per 50 lb bag.

 

[polysiman]

Originally Posted by maelv
But he is talking about the dry aragonite sand that the LFS is selling. Which by the way, is steep for a 20 lb bag. I bought my dry aragonite sugar grained sand (Caribsea) from a LFS and it was 30 lbs for $21 plus tax....I purchased 150 lbs (5 bags) for just over $100
Now, Lowe's sand.....don't know...but Home Depot (HD) has a brand that tons of folks from another forum I am a member of were buying like it was going out of style. I went and bought a couple of bags for my boss, and she has since set up a 5 gallon in her office, a 30 gallon, 55, and 75 using this sand. There are good and bad reasons to doing this. Just search on this site for "play sand" and you'll get all sorts of opinions and thoughts. My recommendation to you would be to rinse the sand out first very very well, to get rid of all the dust in there, that is if you go the HD route.
If you are starting a new tank you will have to cycle anyhow, so you'll be okay, just make sure you really wash that sand out. Here is the sand you should be able to find at HD in the gardening section. Good luck and welcome to the forums.
From another website
Did I just find the grail? There is a pallet of "PAVESTONE Pulverized Limestone"
Here is what the bag says:
Calcium 38%
Calcium Carbonate Equivalent 95%
Magnesium less than 2%
Relative Neutralizing Value 83.63%
It is passing the vinegar test, and it is quite fine.
$4.61 per 50 lb bag.
Thanks so much for the reply. That is exactly what I thought. It did seem a bit high for the dry sand. They had LS, but it was really a bit larger size and not as white as I wanted. I thought that both types were really over priced. I bought the LS in the bags the first salt tank I had and was not very pleased. If I do buy LS again it will be direct shipped from the ocean like on some sites.

 

[maelv]

Originally Posted by polysiman
Thanks so much for the reply. That is exactly what I thought. It did seem a bit high for the dry sand. They had LS, but it was really a bit larger size and not as white as I wanted. I thought that both types were really over priced. I bought the LS in the bags the first salt tank I had and was not very pleased. If I do buy LS again it will be direct shipped from the ocean like on some sites.
You're welcome. And the stuff (Live Sand) that the LFS normally have that comes from Caribsea has beneficial bacteria in there. But from my readings, it isn't really live sand. It doesn't come with all the live beneficial critters (for lack of better term) that, let's say, a scoop of live sand from an established tank would provide. I almost went with the shelved, bagged, "live sand," but couldn't bring myself to pay that insane amount of money for it. If you truly want to start off with some live sand, websites such as this is the way to go. From my understanding they have awesome sand and rocks here, although I have never bought any. But if you are just trying to get it done on a penny so you can spend all your money on the more expensive stuff, then HD is the way to go. All it takes is time and patience and it will become live over time as you cycle and the tank matures.

 

[travis99]

I have a 125 gallon tank. I bought two 50lb bags of play sand and two 20lb bags of live sand. i put the play sand on the bottom, and kept it away from the edges. I then put the live sand on top, and filled in the edges near the glass. If you were to look at it would would sware I had over $350 worth of sand. But in truth it's just over $60. The fish or me can not tell the differance.
All water params are better than I have ever had before.
Travis