Which type of Quikrete sand is best?

[escape2thewater]

Niether HD or Lowes in my area have southdown or yardright sand, So im gonna try quikrete. The only thing is they had 3 diffrent kinds of quikrete sand: "playsand, multi-purpose, and commercial grade medium grain." They get increasingly more expensive by type so is the more expensive the better or more pure? I sampled some as Thomas mentioned on an earlier post and did the magnet and vinegar tests and the playsand definately had small metal particles in it and did not bubble or fizz in vinegar.The commercial grade had no metals and it even bubbled some when submersed in vinegar. Im leaning toward going with the comm grade, just wanted to get some more opinions.....Thomas? Any feedback greatly appriciated!

 

[delphi]

The kind without cement in it.. j/k

The Playsand is most likely the one you want. Playsand is usually argonite. But I am not 100%
I'm sure someone else who has personal experience with quickrete can answer.
I found this .pdf on quikrete's website: http://www.quikrete.com/downloads/MS...d%20gravel.pdf
Maybe someone can use it to provide more useful info...
HTH

 

[escape2thewater]

yep! thats the kind they have at lowes!

 

[thomas712]

Ah I love the smell of sand in the mornig, unless my cats found it first.
You mean someone read something I wrote .
I have never used the quickcrete sand. Many have had success with it even if it had those metal particles in it. What they don't like is the brown color, it is not pleasing once in the tank. Some have found the white quickcrete and like it very much. Still others will buy the white sand and mix the good aragonite in with it, or layer it in the aquarium as they wish.
Have you checked everywhere? Southdown, Yardright, or this old castle sand--all same maker.. has been popping up more and more in places that it didn't used to, and it is good aragonite sand. Check any garden shops?
playsand is not usually aragonite, much of it is silica, it can go downhill from there.
The comm grade sounds like it should be alright. double check your area or with others that might live around you on this board that can check within a reasonable driving distance for the aragonite playsand.
Thomas

 

[trickle25]

im not sure if i can post this or not but heres goes ***Not*** i read somehwere that is basically the same stuff as southdown and if you buy 4 bags the fifth is free

 

[jlm]

I just got the play sand at hd because they didn't have the other stuff around here. I just put it in yesterday but we like it so far. I would have liked to have used the other stuff if I could have but I was thinking 15.00 a bag compared to 2.30 a bag.

 

[wrassecal]

I know a guy in OKC who had a bunch of Old Castle aka southdown delivered. I got 3 bags from him $15 a bag. He still has a few if any of you close by are interested email me.

 

[foxface402]

for what it worth I have 150lb of quickcrete play sand (white). In my 150 gal and it is very nice looking you can't tell the difference. my friends were upset they didn't get a good deal like I got. Which was $2.59 for 50 lbs at lowes.

 

[foxface402]

I had it for two years now.