anyone found sand?

[bawla47]

was wondering if anyone found, ANY type of sand that will work in the tank. Im hoping someone posts, cuz im afraid im going to have to spend 75-100$ on $%$W#% sand from the LFS if not.

anyhow, is there any sand you bought, and it worked for you, please let me know!

I saw the sticky thread on old castle/yard right sand, and got all happy, but no local HDs carry the stuff.

thanks in advance.

 

[zacdl]

What type of sand?

I have Aragamax, something like $25 if I remember right. Its supposed to be the best stuff you can get.


If you are meaning LIVE sand, there is some for like $30-35 for like 25lb or so on ebay (Free ship)

 

[krap101]

well aragamax is just aragnite right?? i went to home depot and tested their sand and at mine, they have 50 lb. bags of it for 5 $. (aragnite) im sure theres something else to make *sand* so expensive.

 

[Auden]

The thing about buying sand from HD is that some play sands have high silicate contents, something you don't want in your tank.

 

[JG]

Look for a previous thread in which I posted regarding using granular dolomitic limestone mixed with a bak of live sand from HD. So far - pH is still stable ( which was a concern of some replies).

The dolomitic limestone sold at HD is chemically the same as the dolomitic limestone sold at LFS.

 

[Jermz79]

I had posted this in the "Sand sticky thread" but you may want to check out www.premiumaquatics.com ... they have CaribSea aragonite sand, 40lb bags for $24.99 not a bad price compared to a LFS or any other internet site.
Use the calculator to determine how much sand you'll need, in my 29gal I went with 40lbs of plain CaribSea aragonite and 15lbs of CaribSea Aragalive. Premiumaquatics.com also has the aragalive for $15.99/20lbs ..... again not a bad price!

 

[David03]

Maybe a dumb question:

Should you rinse the HD sand (or any sand bought from a hardware store?) ? And conversely, should I assume that you don't rinse the live sand, so that you don't wash off all the good bacteria?

Thanks

 

[Jermz79]

I would say yes ... to both!
Washing the sand purchased from HD or whatever hardware store, would wash away any fine particles and dust that may cause problems in your tank!

 

[RLG2182]

I would say that if the HD sand WAS truly aragonite, I wouldn't rinse it. The fine dust particles are good to have so that you have a wide variety of grain sizes to help with the DSB.

Unless you are using sand with high silicate counts, I wouldn't bother rinsing it too much. I threw my Caribsea Aragamax Oolitic right in. Took a couple days to clear... but now I have crystal clear water and it's like I have a sugar white bottom!

 

[MYTY1705]

Your in Florida!!!! beach is only a few hours away. Grab a bucket!!!!
If your worried about price you can go with silica sand for a base and use araganite for the upper portion of the dsb. I did that for a year with no problems. A few downside to it are that sand sifter don't like the sharpness of the silica and the color difference.

 

[bawla47]

actually the beach is about 20 min away lol. But the sand there is kind of nasty, dirty looking, brownish. Im going to hit up everywhere i think might have playsand, as there are almost every store around where i live. Going to bring some vinegar, and will report back in the main sand thread as well as this one. Wish me luck!

 

[dianeww]

I found some beautiful pure white play sand at Home depot, and it fizzes like crazy when assaulted with vinegar. The right stuff, I assume, and super looking! (Already posted this in the playsand sticky.)

 

[zacdl]

You will prolly spend more on gas driving around to all these places than the money you will save on the actual sand......