Quickrete Play Sand is fine for tank?

jeo

jeo

Member
I just want to make sure, I am setting up my first saltwater tank soon and I would hate to mess up the sand, I was planning on putting 80 lbs of ls over 100 lbs of the quickete play sand from home depot. (75 gal tank) Does this sound like a goos plan?
 
cathys

cathys

New Member
THAT SAND SEEMS A LITTLE TO FINE I WAS CONCIDERING USING IT BUT CHANGED MY MIND WHEN I SAW HOW FINE IF REALLY IS <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" />
 
mlm

mlm

Active Member
There are a few people on this board who have done some experementing with playsand with good results. Do a search on quickcrete and you will get all kinds of info.
 
jla9508

jla9508

Member
I added about 70lbs of Quickrete Kiddie PlaySand to my 55gal about 2 weeks ago and it is great. The grains are just right not too small as stated above. There was very very little clouding and it looks really good. I say go for it, then add some live sand on top of it to seed it. IMO, it's the best way to go.
 
spongebobsquarepants

spongebobsquarepants

Member
I am on week 3 of a DSB (started out CC regretfully) I can't get South Down in Wis. so went with the Quickcrete playsand as base and then seeded it with LS....so far so good. Started noticing air bubbles in the sand next to the glass, so it does look like I am well on my way. I did alot of searching on using the Quickcrete and it is pretty much split down the middle as far as if it is recommended are not. I have been testing for silicates and nothing is showing up so far. I should mention that I did rinse the sand for a good 4-5 hours, under the suggestion that alot if the silicate problems arise from inadequate rinsing not removing the fine silicate powder.
 
jeo

jeo

Member
ok, today I went to Home Depot and bought 3 bags of Southdown Tropical Playsand. I am a little concerned about the grain size- its very small, I'm not sure if its small enough to be a problem or not. I know that they had a diffrerent kind of sand at Lowes, it was quickcrete but didn't say tropical or anything, and was in a paper bag so I couldn't see the grain size. Not exactly sure what to do at this point but have plenty of time to ponder- still building the stand for my tank!
Also, from reading different articles online I am convinced that silicates will not be a problem, if anyone has any good evidence to sway me the other way let me know. thanks ;)
 
krusk

krusk

Member
Jeo
hmm, i'm not sure about that "silicate base sand is OK"
I/we are trying to remove silicate of our aquariums and now they saying that silicate base sand is OK for the tank, is it gonna release some source of silicate back to our tank?
I don't get this
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
the southdown,is fine grained adn will be ok for the tank, thesmaller grain size is actually better for the tank then larger grain, diversity is good too, but the finer offers more surface area thus making it even more effective for bcteria colonization and nitrate reduction
also, silicates have been rumored to be a problem for algae, but if nothing else is available to you, then silca based sand is a better otpion than none at all, so if you cannot get sd arag, then the silica sand will be ok, but just not quite as good
HTH
 
S

starfishjackedme

Guest
It's brown - I have it in my 55gal sump. I read an article by Dr.Shimek that it is impossible for silicate based sand to dissolve and become water born. Besides, the glass in your aqurium is silicate based - sand melted. The only source of silica in your aquarium is from your water source. Get a RO/DI.
 
jeo

jeo

Member
the sand I bought is white- very nice looking, when I get home I am going to see if it is silicate based or not- thanks for all the responses by the way :cool:
if anyone wants me to I will take a picture and post it- just let me know
 
spongebobsquarepants

spongebobsquarepants

Member
Here is an article on silica base sand from someone who seems to have a little knowledge on the subject. <a href="http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen9.html" target="_blank">http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen9.html</a>
 
jeo

jeo

Member
Thanks spongebob, that's one of the articles that I read, I'm not even sure if the sand I have is silicate based, but either way I'm not worried about it. I tried to look on the bag but it didn't have any information about its composition, it just says "Tropical Play Sand -From the Caribbean&#8221; I will take the advice of Fshhub and use it, I was thinking about buying a bad of quickcrete with larger grain size to add some diversity but I'm not too worried about it.
Also- how deep will my sand bed be with 150 lbs of the southdown and 80 lbs live in a 75 gal? Thanks again :cool:
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
tropical playsand from the carribean is more than likely aragonite, but
take a little of sand that you can throw away, and pour some vinegar on it, if it bubbles and fizzes, it is aragonite sand
150 plus 80 lbs is definitely gonna be a bit, i might start off with 100 lbs and maybe the 80 on top adn see
 
jastim

jastim

Member
I just purchased some of the South Down Tropical play sand in Albany NY this last weekend. I replaced the cc in my tank with this stuff yesterday. I used 4 50lb bags in my 75g tank and that seemed to be just about right (4-5"). $4.67 per 50lb bag. What a deal!!! Sorry for those of you who don't have it at your Home Depot. I thought the Albany NY didn't carry it either (they told be this on the phone) but knowing how much time they probably spent looking I went anyway and guess what...they had it. Anyway, before I knew I could get it locally Home Depot gave me the number to contact SouthDown directly. It is 800-526-4753 ext. 8816 if anyone is interested in calling them to find out if they ship directly or could give you the name of a close distributor.
Home this helps someone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top