Sand questions

[lawdawg18]

I went and looked at some different places yesterday to purchase some sand. The playsand looked orangish in the bag is this normal/ok to use. It was playsand at walmart, it said steriized and siffted. Home depot here carries quikcreat playsand it to is sorta orangish. Either of these be ok? walmart was a good bit cheaper than HD, it was less than 2 dollars for 50 pd bag. I couldnt find southdown or old castle anywhere in my area. One more question how many pounds do i need for 150 gal tank?

 

[malkore]

the sand you found is silica based, and many don't consider it good for salt tanks. for one, it offers no buffering capacity. it also compacts down while argonite sand seems much more...fluffy...loose...certainly less compacted.

however it's a big debate. the books i've read say 'silica sand=the devil' - but others here use it successfully.

However if you're planning on going full reef, you need argonite sand. with a 150 gallon reef, the cost of sand will be one of your cheapest purchases.

 

[sevise]

I went out looking for sand yesterday. First place I went was the grocery store and picked up the smallest bottle of vinegar they had. Then I went to about 6 hardware/landscaping stores before I found one with arogonite.

The test to see if its arogonite sand, aka the good stuff, is to pour a little vinegar over a small pile, if it foams up then its arogonite. The sales people may think your crazy but I think its worth it in the end.

 

[adacaro]

hello I need to know how can I clean my sand all I have seen is for gravel I need to yake out some residues