sand question...need help someone please!!

[jakepilot]

what is the drawback to silica sand?? i have this in my tank?? is that bad? today i was talking to the lfs and they said this was a bad thing...any opinions

 

[jakepilot]

anyone got any answers??

 

[fshhub]

i was always told that silica was bad too, but it seems anymore that alot more people are using it wihtout problems, maybe they say an algae bloom but they can be handled and are normal anyway
the one thing about aragonite, is that it can help with ph and calcium too, but we are finding more and more that silica seems to be ok in a tank, ihave oly aragonite, but i know of others that use silica, with success
HTH

 

[kidrockfish]

I am using 75 lbs of silica in my 46, and have not had any problems as of yet. I used quick-crete (sp?) white silica bought at my local Ace hardware. Total cost was about eight bucks, plus livesand from lfs to seed it. Hope this helps.

 

[fender]

Aragonite sand helps with buffering, is considered clean, and is not as sharp edged as silica - and more expensive. The jury is still out as to whether diatoms are an issue with silica. I have seen articles by the same auther verifying and then refuting this....

 

[wally]

I use quickcrete sand and I am very happy with it!!

 

[toungetwster]

I use pure white silica sand and have had no problems...good luck

 

[nacl-h2o]

I've used Premium Play Sand, a white quartz (silica) sand from HD, in two tanks with no problems.

 

[broomer5]

Silica based quartz sand does not contain anything I want in my tankwater.
Aragonite sand contains exactly what I want in my tankwater - calcium and carbonate.
Most every substrate dissolves in water to some degree over time.
It is my understanding that there are areas in a sandbed where acids are produced - mainly nitric acid as a result of the actions of nitrifying bacteria.
In these areas - I would imagine that the aragonite has some buffering affect on these acids.
I may be mistaken - but that's what I currently believe.
I choose aragonite over any other sand for my tanks - even though it is more costly sometimes.
Aragonite is calcium carbonate - I like that about this type of sand.
I know there are tons of folks that have great tanks and great water chemistry ~ that use silica based quartz sand, and that's cool.
It's a personal decision for sure.

 

[php]

is it in your tank already?

 

[php]

if it's in keep it, or add live sand to it