southdown or quickrete
- Thread starter peasly1
- Start date
wally
Member
Ah Southdown sand the Holy Grail it seems of playsand. I too was unable to find it so I just got the Quickcrete brand. After talking to several people who have used it I say it makes no difference. The South Down sand is made out of Argramite (a type of limestone)and the Quickcrete is made out of limestone and silica. Some people will tell you that the sand will put silicates in your water which will lead to diatom algae blooms. But the reality is that Silica Sand and the glass you tank is made out of are 100% the same exact chemical and only a very, very, very small % of it will ever disolve in your water.
goofieones
Member
If you are a gambler, the quickcrete would be okay. If you aren't a betting man or woman, don't try it. Spend the extra money on the stuff they have on this site.
thereefman52
Member
IMO it will be ok, i would never pay for the sand on this site to buy and ship, no way!
flamehawk
Active Member
I'm a bit confused myself. IF THE virtues of LS is the fact that it is indeed "live" and fine, than how does retail dry sand help your sustem? How do you jump start the "live" provess and what do you need to make this not be a disaster when changing from CC.? It will undoubtably recycle since it is dried sand with no helpful bacteria.
up north hermit
Member
Firstly, if you do a change over, do it very slowly to avoid a "re-cycle". It can be done with patience. I did this to a 6 year old 125 gallon tank that had CC. I did it in thirds, waiting a week inbetween (taking out 1/3, replace with dry sand, wait a week, do another 1/3, etc.).
Retail dry sand helps in that it is CHEAP!! Bagged sand sold as "Live Sand" is very expensive, and is cost prohibitive. You only need about 20% live to 80% "dead" to seed a bed nicely. Since most LSB's are very deep, you need ALOT of sand. For instance, my 40 gallon reef required 160 pounds of sand to make a 5" bed. So I used 140 lbs. dry sand, to 20% live sand (from a mature tank, or I could have used a bag of "Live Sand") to get it going. The bacteria in the live sand starts to colonize immediately, and even within the matter of a couple of hours will have multiplied hundreds of times. (Dr. Ron Shimek, AQUAIRUM FISH, March 2001).
Only 10% of your sand needs to be "live", but more is better.
HTH
Hermit
Retail dry sand helps in that it is CHEAP!! Bagged sand sold as "Live Sand" is very expensive, and is cost prohibitive. You only need about 20% live to 80% "dead" to seed a bed nicely. Since most LSB's are very deep, you need ALOT of sand. For instance, my 40 gallon reef required 160 pounds of sand to make a 5" bed. So I used 140 lbs. dry sand, to 20% live sand (from a mature tank, or I could have used a bag of "Live Sand") to get it going. The bacteria in the live sand starts to colonize immediately, and even within the matter of a couple of hours will have multiplied hundreds of times. (Dr. Ron Shimek, AQUAIRUM FISH, March 2001).
Only 10% of your sand needs to be "live", but more is better.
HTH
Hermit
wally
Member
All the bagged "live sands" have in them is supposedly some bacteria. I say supposedly because I wonder how the bacteria can survive without a food source or oxygen? I guess a few do somehow make it but bacteria multiply so fast one can become millions in less than a week. Since you allready have a tank up and running you have all the good bacteria you will need. Just change over to cheapy bagged sand a third or one half of your tank at a time.