Quickrete play sand
- Thread starter milomlo
- Start date
S
sinner's girl
Guest
really? I've never heard of being able to use quickrete, I thought it had to be southdown? Quickrete is everywhere....
murph
Active Member
No its not calcium based and it is silicate sand but the buffering capacity of even argonite (if you want to spend the money) is negligible.
I have not had any problems using it or any other silicate based play sand. It leaves some money for other more important items for the tank setup IMO.
A religious water change routine should keep levels where they should be. The buffering capacity of your substrate is a minuscule factor.
But then thats just me, I could be wrong.
I have not had any problems using it or any other silicate based play sand. It leaves some money for other more important items for the tank setup IMO.
A religious water change routine should keep levels where they should be. The buffering capacity of your substrate is a minuscule factor.
But then thats just me, I could be wrong.
G
gelcapper
Guest
on that note... would you be able to use some LS and some playsand in your tank (say half and half) to save money yet still get (some of) the benefits, also would the LS "seed" the playsand after awhile?
S
sinner's girl
Guest
yes, ls will seed sand, some just get a bag or even just a cup of ls (or the smallest amount you can buy) and the ls and lr will seed the sand, thus saving money!
But I've never heard of being able to use quickrete....
But I've never heard of being able to use quickrete....
zman1
Active Member
WOW.... there must be different types. I have used it in my garden and it's brown sand and contains silica. As there is a warning about this on the bag not to use it for sand blasting because of the silica.
As for as buffering with aragonite sand. I was a believer of this myth for sometime until I got a CA reactor. For your sand to start to dissolve and buffer your tank, the pH would have to be so low it would be devastating to the specimens in the tank
As for as buffering with aragonite sand. I was a believer of this myth for sometime until I got a CA reactor. For your sand to start to dissolve and buffer your tank, the pH would have to be so low it would be devastating to the specimens in the tank
psusocr1
Active Member
not to contradict bangguy
but i used quickrete as stated above and i had a stingray and my shark when i used it, both who need something very fine so they dont scratch their bellies and they loved it, never had a problem. My levels where always at 0 , i loved the stuff except for how fine it really is, with a stingray he would make AMESS of my tank with this sand since theya re always bury themseleves etc.
but i used quickrete as stated above and i had a stingray and my shark when i used it, both who need something very fine so they dont scratch their bellies and they loved it, never had a problem. My levels where always at 0 , i loved the stuff except for how fine it really is, with a stingray he would make AMESS of my tank with this sand since theya re always bury themseleves etc.
murph
Active Member
I have used both with no problems. The quickcrete once in a pinch but mostly the HD play sand.
I still say the money that can be saved here is better spent on a quality skimmer or light fixture. Somewhere around here is a pretty lengthy article comparing sands. Bang guy should probably be able to link it.
I still say the money that can be saved here is better spent on a quality skimmer or light fixture. Somewhere around here is a pretty lengthy article comparing sands. Bang guy should probably be able to link it.
indymatt
Member
Kolorscape play sand sold by Walmart, Home Depot, and Meijer is a calcium based play sand made by Old Castle. It has a blue label on the bag. I found it at a Meijer store. It costs about 3.32 a bag.
I have heard of people using regular Old Castle sand with an orange label that says all natural play sand, but I found the Kolorscape stuff to be a lot cleaner and whiter.
I have heard of people using regular Old Castle sand with an orange label that says all natural play sand, but I found the Kolorscape stuff to be a lot cleaner and whiter.
maeistero
Active Member
my take on this is that why wouldn't you buy the best even if it's a piddley $20-$30 bucks?
every true reef of 55gallons has to cost at least four grand if you really do it right. i understand there are areas (like kc) where you can get'er done for a couple hundred with friends. but honestly why skimp on something this trivial? this is say forty to a hundred bucks to save how much in corals and it lasts pretty much the life of your tank.
there are people that say use any old sand. usually turns out to be the people that own less than quality lfs, but hey to each there own. go with good stuff or do the cc thing if you want to, but just think about a saltwater tank with yellow play sand. i hope your cat doesn't get up there lol.
i personally always will go with carib-sea sugar sized aragonite. not a brand preference or anything, but it's what i started with and it looks better than anything else i've ever seen. i recommend you take a $3 bag of play sand, buy it and bring it in to the lfs to compare. looks a bit different under high quality lighting? also watch out because a lot of lfs' simply use this junk because they can sell a cup for twice the price of an entire bag of playsand to rookies who need to seed. i made that mistake on my first tank, dumped nasty crap sand in there. didn't have the bacteria or worms to seed and created a yellow spot in my sandbed. never again.
every true reef of 55gallons has to cost at least four grand if you really do it right. i understand there are areas (like kc) where you can get'er done for a couple hundred with friends. but honestly why skimp on something this trivial? this is say forty to a hundred bucks to save how much in corals and it lasts pretty much the life of your tank.
there are people that say use any old sand. usually turns out to be the people that own less than quality lfs, but hey to each there own. go with good stuff or do the cc thing if you want to, but just think about a saltwater tank with yellow play sand. i hope your cat doesn't get up there lol.
i personally always will go with carib-sea sugar sized aragonite. not a brand preference or anything, but it's what i started with and it looks better than anything else i've ever seen. i recommend you take a $3 bag of play sand, buy it and bring it in to the lfs to compare. looks a bit different under high quality lighting? also watch out because a lot of lfs' simply use this junk because they can sell a cup for twice the price of an entire bag of playsand to rookies who need to seed. i made that mistake on my first tank, dumped nasty crap sand in there. didn't have the bacteria or worms to seed and created a yellow spot in my sandbed. never again.
turningtim
Active Member
I must agree with maeistero! Why take a chance with contaminants or just plan old bad sand. Sand is a major part of the system and is a real pain to change out if something isn't right.
In scale with the cost of all the other equipment and livstock, sand is minimal!
Just don't think its worth it!
JMO
Tim
In scale with the cost of all the other equipment and livstock, sand is minimal!
Just don't think its worth it!
JMO
Tim
saltwater8
Member
Originally Posted by maeistero
my take on this is that why wouldn't you buy the best even if it's a piddley $20-$30 bucks?
every true reef of 55gallons has to cost at least four grand if you really do it right. i understand there are areas (like kc) where you can get'er done for a couple hundred with friends. but honestly why skimp on something this trivial? this is say forty to a hundred bucks to save how much in corals and it lasts pretty much the life of your tank.
there are people that say use any old sand. usually turns out to be the people that own less than quality lfs, but hey to each there own. go with good stuff or do the cc thing if you want to, but just think about a saltwater tank with yellow play sand. i hope your cat doesn't get up there lol.
i personally always will go with carib-sea sugar sized aragonite. not a brand preference or anything, but it's what i started with and it looks better than anything else i've ever seen. i recommend you take a $3 bag of play sand, buy it and bring it in to the lfs to compare. looks a bit different under high quality lighting? also watch out because a lot of lfs' simply use this junk because they can sell a cup for twice the price of an entire bag of playsand to rookies who need to seed. i made that mistake on my first tank, dumped nasty crap sand in there. didn't have the bacteria or worms to seed and created a yellow spot in my sandbed. never again.
Maybe you should read the results of this experiment - you may think differently...
"The CaribSea and OldCastle oolitics tested identical in all aspects."
*Link Removed*
***)
