sand question

[kuatto]

Maybe its already been discussed,but i was wondering if you could use playsand(washed in bags from home depot)or is it different from ocean sand,just wondering :confused:
Jim

[Chad]

I think most ppl would recommend you use a more proper sand. simply because the playsand is not going to provide any buffering affects.

I could be wrong tho :eek:

Chad

[Quinn]

I agree with Chad.

Six or so months ago when I was debating rock choices, Stircrazy told me, if you're going to get into this hobby, get into it right, ie. don't skimp. I think that is pretty good advice. I don't know how much experience you have, but I myself would rather be safe than sorry. Canadian Man might have some SWC Sugar Sand still, maybe you could contact him. I believe it was $25 for a 40lb bag. I use it and it's nice stuff, very white. It's the same stuff that the stores in the Edmonton area sell, and it might be cheaper.

[Delphinus]

Now don't quote me on this, but I think one of the reasons a calcium or aragonite sugar grain sand is a better choice than a silica or granite based sand is the physical shape of the granules themself. The calcium/aragonite is a softer material, and tends to be softer edged and perhaps rounder. The other stuff may have jagged edges and this can be harder on the microfauna (as well as the glass ... it can scratch the glass quite badly).

I could be wrong but I thought I read something along those lines once.

[kari]

I always thought silica = trouble or algae problems. Maybe the story has been revised since I last researched.

kari

[Buccaneer]

According to Dr Ron ... there is no difference in sand choice other than the appropriate mix of grain size ( DSB that is ) so use whatever you can get your hands on ... you could go with no sand at all as a bunch of reefers on RC are doing because they claim that the DSB that they were running was causing algae blooms and even Dr Ron says they only last about 4 years and then should be replaced ? ... there is always a ebb and flow in this hobby cause what is the latest/greatest this week is trash next week but in a year is the best again :confused: :rolleyes: :smile:

Cheers

[kuatto]

I figured as much, :neutral: i'd rather play it safe and use good stuff.would love to get some really white sugar sand if anyone has any for sale(hint,hint Canadian Man :mrgreen: )

Qiunn : I have about 2.5 yrs exsperience(learned a lot of expensive mistakes)I try to research before i do things,but still consider myself a beginner
:smilecol:

[StirCrazy]

According to Dr Ron ... there is no difference in sand choice other than the appropriate mix of grain size


thans not nessasary true, there is a huge difference between silican and cairbsea. mainly the surface features of the sand. sugar sand is smooth whare silica sand has many sharp edges which Dr. Ron says can be hard on "critters" that move through the sand or others that "sift" the sand.

Steve

[dekay]

Got another sand question. Is it ok to add anything with a bigger grain size such as the pic below (except they're a lot whiter)? No such thing as bad sand due to the size is there? I've got like 10-20lbs of these (new) from my previous fish only setup and was wondering if I can dump these in to form the base of my sand bed. I'll have sugar sand on top though.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/images/caribsea/reef.jpg

[AJ_77]

I think you would be OK to mix the larger grains in. that stuff looks great. The best sandbeds I've had have been mixed grain sizes, sometimes all the way up to gravel.

Eventually it will mix to a point on its own as it is disturbed by the in-bed fauna. The tiny sand will settle down through the larger grains, and some of the larger pieces will be displaced upwards.

[Toooloud]

guys this has been debated over a billion times on many boards,

Dont go and pay the price for caribsea sand.. or any aquiarum sand.

Buy from homedepo you may have to search for it, its called !

Oldcastle Tropical Playsand! its argronite baised ( just to the viniger test) or you can pick up the White Bomix tropical playsand, again its Agronite baised so you are.

Oldcastle formally know as Southdown gets there sand supplied directly from the same suppliers as Caribsea just they charge you 35$ a bag for a 30 pound bag when the oldcastle is $20 a bag for 50 pounds!

the one that easiest to get is Bomix found at more RONA stores its somthing like 7$ a bag for a 20KG bag!

[StirCrazy]

Buy from homedepo you may have to search for it, its called !

Oldcastle Tropical Playsand! its argronite baised ( just to the viniger test) or you can pick up the White Bomix tropical playsand, again its Agronite baised so you are.

Oldcastle formally know as Southdown gets there sand supplied directly from the same suppliers as Caribsea just they charge you 35$ a bag for a 30 pound bag when the oldcastle is $20 a bag for 50 pounds!


you know thta is a realy nice sugestion concidering it is only availble to eastren USA, and if you ship it here it becoms more expensive than cairbsea. :rolleyes:

Steve

[Toooloud]

Even Bomix?

I was under the understanding that it was avaible through out all of north america?

Do you guys have any Rono Home and Garden places there?

[Delphinus]

Never heard of it... but I'm tempted to go look and see if I can find some. Will let you know if I find any out here!!

[Quinn]

Yes we have Rona, and no Southdown/Old Castle is not available anywhere in North America. Just stores on the eastern seaboard and southern Ontario on occasion... someone brought some up here and it was about the same price as aragonite. Kuatto there is a girl in Manitoba who has some sand to get rid of, maybe you can talk to her.

[Toooloud]

Well then got to Rona, Its called Bomix there are two kinds a brown and a white, Make sure its the white bomix tropical play said.. its argronite baised.. alot of us up here in Ontario are using the stuff.. works just as well as Southdown, just sligtly larger size..

Most ronas dont carry it instock but they can order it for you!

[Toooloud]

http://maskcanada.org/bomix_southdown/

There is a link to some serious testing that was done on it in ontario!

[Skimmerking]

Ok cool
Mike can you get this sand in the Canada region, Just curious Me and Doug can't seem to find anything here in the crazy freak out place called manitoba.

[Toooloud]

yea we can get it down here in Toronto..

From what i understand is htat if you ask any Rona to special order it they will.. but there is somthing like a 1 skid minium..

im sure there are eough of u up there to get it?

[kuatto]

I read her post,the sand is 4 yrs old.would it still be any good?

[Quinn]

I don't see why not. If it's "live", it would never really die as far as I know. Whether it's full of chemicals and such is another question, but if it's being moved/disturbed I think these would leak out? Maybe someone else can confirm.

[EmilyB]

The big discussion these days is whether or not it absorbs bad things like heavy metals. I know my sand bed did a major flip after four years, but I have a huge bioload.

I'm dumping mine Saturday unless anyone wants it. It's all Caribsea too... :frown:

[Canadian Man]

The big discussion these days is whether or not it absorbs bad things like heavy metals. I know my sand bed did a major flip after four years, but I have a huge bioload.

I'm dumping mine Saturday unless anyone wants it. It's all Caribsea too... :frown:

Just found out my answer to the question I posted in your temp tank post. :lol: