hey shadetree

[farmerjo90]

I saw on your website that you used sand from home depot in your reef tank. Obviously I am going to need a lot of sand and I was wondering how deep your sand bed is for using 15 bags. I want about a 4" deep bed and the area of my aquarium is the same as yours. Are you sure that this sand is the same as Caribsea agramax? Is it argonite? Thanks for the tip. Got anymore cost saving tricks?

[farmerjo90]

thanks Troy, but don't you think that the home depot up here could get some sent up? I'm thinking that they can. What do you say Scott?

[DJ88]

farmer,

I have looked into it and they won't do it. HD deals with Target and Target alone it seems. plus the costs of shipping minimum one pallet would be prohibitive.

[ruck'n'reefer]

I tried HD in Bellingham. They couldn't get any for me. But I know someone on one of the boards had some brought into Seattle though.
It seems like way too much work I guess. I am using a silca based "sandblasting" sand from lordco. I will try to find the exact name for it.

[Troy F]

Hi Farmerjo. The Home Depot(Southdown) sand isn't available up here in the Great White North. Scott drove down to California to pick it up. It had been shipped there from northeastern US. It is aragonite but after all is said and done it isn't that much different than buying it up here at LFS prices.

If you were to do a search on www.reefs.org (http://www.reefs.org) or www.reefcentral.com (http://www.reefcentral.com) I think you may find some interesting observations on using silicate based sands. Most of the experts seem to feel that the buffering capacity of aragonite is negligible. More important is particle size. In other words; a sterilized silicate based sand in the right particle range would provide all you need for a good DSB. Dr Shimek and Dr Toonen both seem to agree that, after particle size, the right diversity of life is the most important aspect of a DSB.

It might be worth researching because if you have a tank the size of Scott's; you're going to need a lot of sand to get 4"-5".

HTH

[FlameAngel]

I don't know if SouthDown is even sold on the westcoast anymore. that sux.

[Shadetree]

farmerjo90,

I drove 5000 kilometers in 68 hours in December and picked up 3000 pounds of sand from a very nice lady in California. It was all sold by the time I got back to Vancouver. Unfortunately there is none left. I am checking to see if I can get some more without as long of a drive though. I will keep you posted, it will not be for quite a while if it is even possible.

Scott

[gerowe]

I recently set up a new tank using about 320 pounds of Southdown sand (courtesy of Shadetree) and about an equal amount of silica based sand that I bought at a local garden supply. It was apparently mined somewhere on the Oregon coast and was as fine as the Southdown, but not as white. The tank has been going about 2 months now and I have not experienced any problems with diatom blooms, etc. Based on what's happened so far, I'd do it again, perhaps with an even greater percentage of the silica sand, which cost (in total) less than $15 US.

George