southdown sand

[dhraako]

does anyone know if this sand is sold in Calgary?

If not does anyone know of a great equivalent?

[Aquattro]

It isn't sold in Canada, except maybe a few soutern Ontario Home depots maybe. Caribsea makes a great equivalent, in fact, it's the same stuff.

[trilinearmipmap]

I have read that "Bomix white play sand - silica free" is a good substitute. I think it's available in Eastern Canada only. I e-mailed the company about any local retailers and they didn't bother to answer me.

[Delphinus]

At one point Jayson over at saltwaterconnection.com imported something like 11,000lbs of sand from the same quarry as caribsea and southdown. The only problem is that it is a royal PITA to ship "30 lb. bags of sand," unless you're bringing in a skid of sand (about 64 bags or something). So if you're only looking for something like 10 bags or less, you'll probably end up paying the same amount per bag than if you had just run over to Big Al's and bought a bag of Caribsea.

Last year Canadian Man had brough in a skid and the year before that I had brought in a skid ... Maybe if there's enough demand we can look at doing something like this again .. but for small amounts you're better off just paying the $25-35 per bag of the Caribsea stuff.

My advice is to forget about southdown .. unless you drive a truck and can bring a skid of this stuff in from the U.S. east coast yourself, it's just not gonna be cost-effective to bring any in. With that said, there was a guy in the bargain finder about a year ago who was selling Southdown. But (if memory serves correctly) it was only a few dollars cheaper than the Caribsea stuff. I guess sand just doesn't fgrow on trees around here. ;) :lol:

[dhraako]

hehe yeah I guess your right :)

as for the sand I guess I'll prolly be stuck with the caribsea :evil:

hrm I just read a lot of places that that stuff was SO freaking cheap..like 7 US per bag...but I guess that varies

I may look around for play sand..and check the ingredients...I've been reading a lot about other good substitues in US stores..but I'll look around..walmart and stuff...I'm trying to make a DIY refugium..and I've seen some REALLY cost effective ones...so time will tell :)

[dhraako]

I found out that it isn't the southdown that's the great stuff

its ANY Calcium Carbonate based sand...not silicate for the reason that pods and worms and such don't like it (to sharp)... so I'll keep me eyes peeled in that case...since I only need it for a fuge...no silicates than..hrm...and the search is on!

ohh

and

GO FLAMES GO!