Play sand woes

[maxamillion]

Ok, so as many of us in the midwest have probably found out that they have discontinued the sale of tropical play sand in the area, which is very tragic! Ok, so here is my solution. I have a sellers permit, which means I can buy wholesale if I plan on re-selling the play sand. I have contacted the company that sells the sand with interest in buying a bunch of it. But heres the thing, I am sure there is a minimum quantity of how much I can buy, and I doubt its less than 1000 lbs of the stuff... yikes... I mean DSBs are good.. but 1000 lbs of sand would make like a 30 inch sandbed in my 18" tall aquarium. I think thats a bit too deep

So if I were to make a purchase who would be interesting in purchasing the sand? I would be able to sell it at cost, but I would also have to include taxes. Which is 5.6%

If anyone is interested please PM me. I would be willing to ship it, but I would still charge tax to make stuff easier on my end, and of course buyer would pay for shipping. But I know that I can probably send about 20-30 lbs of sand for 7.70 (good ol' USPS flat rate boxes).

Well please let me know, I plan on getting a lot sometime soon. If I dont sell it all thats fine, I plan on making some live rock with some of it. Please inquire about any quantities! Also please include your email address and I'll just send a mass email out to anyone who has inquired about it once I get further along in this process.

Thanks,
max

 

[JG]

I couldn't find the playsand either, but I did find granular aragonite limestone in the lawn care section of HD. I used this for my deep sand bed and layered it with 20 pounds of live sand. Tank chemistry has been great and my gobies are in "sand bed heaven"

My only complaint is that I should have washed it better to get the really fine particles out, but the gobies kick it around enough that it is being filtered out.

The cost was 2.95 per 40 pound bag - can't beat that !

 

[dianeww]

This would work? Sounds hopeful!!

 

[JG]

So far so good. The pH is stable at 8.2. I ran a test bucket before actually putting it in the aquarium and pH was fine and it did not pack too tightly. My Nassarius snals are able to burrow through it just fine.

I goofed in the previous post - it is Dolomitic Limestone.

Dolomitic Limestone is what you find in the LFS in the "gravel form: This is exactly the same thing chemically, just ground up for lawns. It comes in 2 grades " pulverized - too dusty IMO - and granular - which is just a little finer than the live sand. The granular is 95% dust free.

I think that the only obstacle to using this in an aquarium is the mental block of using a lawn care item in your aquarium. I must have read the label 20 times before making that last step just to assure myself that it was indeed just limestone.

Some folks might not like the little dust storms, but perhaps a better prewash might help with that.

 

[dianeww]

I've just been searching through some old threads. According to this, pulverized (or is that different from crushed?) limestone will skyrocket the pH ? Does this mean just the super-fine texture?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=36168&highlight=limestone+sand

 

[maxamillion]

I just wonder if they'll still stock it.

Apparently the tropical play sand went on clearance (and apparently it was really CHEAP) something I would have loved if I knew it was going on, sadly I dont read HDs adds enough anymore

just out of curiosity do you know the SKU or UPC and exact title for it?

Thanks,
Max

 

[maxamillion]

Ooh... I hope its not that stuff that dianeww mentioned. yikes!

 

[JG]

The chemical composition of the dolomite you would buy in the LFS in a gravel form and the dolomitic limestone I bought at HD should be chemically the same. That being said, the texture of the substrate will affect how fast the pH rises.

Dolomite will bubble slightly in warm water as it is slightly more soluble in water, whereas calcite will not. The surface area of the substrate will also affect how quickly this happens. The finer the substrate, the more surface area it has. The chemical reaction between the water and the substrate will occur only on the surface of the sand. Therefore, more surface= faster reaction. I could see this causing a potential pH spike if using the pulverized dolomitic limestone since the surface area is far greater than the granular and gravel.

So far, the pH is remaining stable at 8.2, but I continue to monitor it daily . So far - no spikes

 

[dianeww]

I am willing to use whatever is chemically the same animal! So I am to assume that if I can find dolomite limestone in a sand-grain size, it will work without raising the pH too much. Is there anyone else out there with some input? Anyone else tried this for a substrate?

JG, please keep us advised as to your pH readings. This is very interesting!

 

[JG]

I will keep you updated!