Southdown in Tampa Area

[wet bar]

I am starting up a small reef tank (29 G). This will be my first SW tank with a DSB. I bought a 20# bag of Nature's Ocean LS to use, but I want to supplement the rest with Southdown.
How much Southdown sand will I need (to add to the 20# bag I already have) to get a 4-6" DSB?
AND
Anybody know where I can get it in the Tampa Area (Pinellas, Hillsborough, or Pasco Counties)?
TIA

 

[pigeoncreek1]

For Southdown play sand,my sand calculator program tells me:
4" --- 80lbs
6" --- 120lbs
Hope this helps!

 

[wet bar]

WOW...that is a lot of sand! Now I definitely need to find an alternative to buying the LS from a dealer.
Anyone with info on Southdown in Tampa...or any other suggestions on getting around 100# of sand that can be substituted for Southdown?

 

[pigeoncreek1]

The only place I know of that handles Southdown is Home Depot. You can check one out in your area, but from reading posts on this board, not all of them carry it.
I got lucky and found a Home Depot about 15 miles from my house that stocks it. One of their employees said that he has people come in from 100's of miles away to get it for their tanks!
Maybe if your local HD doesn't have it, they can find out the closest one that does carry it.
As far as a sub, I've read that some people use regular silica sand(quickcrete play sand) with success. I'm new to saltwater as well so I have never tried it. Search this forum for"quickrete" or "silica" for more info...
Good Luck!

 

[twicklund]

I was looking for Southdown in the Tampa area. Never found it. Went with Quick Crete instead. Has worked perfectly so far. Tank is 18 months old.
tw

 

[rblovell]

I used quickrete as well (playground sand) from Home Depot. It's been working fine. I have a 29 gallon with 50lbs. of that sand and 20lbs. of live sand.

 

[bwets_angel]

Most hardware stores can order stuff for you if they don't carry it. At least the ones around here can. Next time you are in you local hardware store try asking someone if you can order it.