Question about brands of sand

[William]

I'm curious..


I've been searching the forums recently because I was going to go get the sand for my tank today, and was wondering..


is there anything special about newcastle or southdown playsand?


Or will any agrogate based playsand work just fine? I always hear about the brands, but never what makes them so special or prefered.




Also, how many pounds do you think it would take to put about 4-5 inches of sand in a standard 30gal? I was thinking between the tank and the 10gal sump I'd need about...6 bags..

So... help?

 

[BillyZ]

the reason most folks look for the new castle/southdown brand is the fact of its known origin. Folks have researched and visited the facility itself and the sand comes straight from the bottom of the ocean and has no additives and is not "processesd" other than sifted for size. It's a natural product that CaribSea charges $20 for a 50lb bag for.

to answer your other question, yes, any Argonite based sand will work, just be sure that it is sterilized and doesn't have any other additives.

i'm not sure on the dimensions of a 30gal, my 55 gallon took 2 50# bags and gave me a 4-5" bed. The dimensions of the 55 are 48"x12" some simple math should let you convert that to your tank size.

 

[William]

36longx12widex17tall

 

[BillyZ]

well thats easy math then ) if mine is 4" deep with two bags, yours would be 5-1/3" deep with two bags. hehe.. not that 1/3" is that common of a measurement but.. you get the idea )

 

[William]

I hate math, so... IF you say so