Silica sand Silicate???

[gooyferret]

I have heard good and bad things on these sands, and i dont believe what to believe? it shouldnt make a difference considering that its silicon based so it shouldnt affect any problems considering silicon is unharmful for aquariums. My idea is to use about 2 inches of white silicate sand and about 2inches of LS giving me a total of 4 inch DSB. Anyone have any ideas about this and is the silicate going to turn "Live" after cycle?

thanks

 

[scuba_steve]

the prob with silica is that it doesnt dissolve like arganite sand does !! which ya want to happen ! your sand bed will decrease by 1/2 in a year or two
as for dead sand turning live! yes it will but only if ya have the creatures in the true live sand !! not the live bag that they claim is live !! which it really is a waste of money ! dead sand will be the same thing after a few weeks as the bagged sand !!

 

[fishfreek]

Another item with the silica sand is that if you look closly at the sand crystals themselves they often have sharp edges where as the argontite sand is more soft and round on its edges. Some of the delicate creatures that live in our sand bed will prefer the argonite sand over the silica sand for this reason.

 

[gooyferret]

Well my reason for asking is that i can buy the sicate sand for $1.00 planning on using that for the bottom layer and making the top LS will this work?

 

[kidafius]

as for dead sand turning live! yes it will but only if ya have the creatures in the true live sand !! not the live bag that they claim is live !!

I disagree. What makes the bag sand "Live" sand is that it contains the bacteria that you need in the sand for nitrification. That is why the bagged sand is marketed with the number in billions of bacteria in the bag.........i.e. "Over 2 billion bacteria" or whatever.

I am using silica sand and LS. NO problems. The only thing that really matters for sand, except for toxicity of substances (silicone dioxide is safe ) is the particle size. To achieve optimal bacteria growth for nitrification, you want to stick with about an average of .113 mm sand particle. That is the proper size for the good bacteria that you want.

I think the only issue with silica vs. argonite is that argonite helps to buffer for calcium and alkalinity and stuff, whereas silica doesn't. HTH.

 

[gooyferret]

thanks BUT i have a question essecially LS has to have additives to it to make it LS so why would the silica not be live with live sand it will get the same bacteria contact than LS would?

 

[kidafius]

Yes, the silica sand will be LS when the bacteria spreads throughout your SB. That is exactly how my DSB is. I combed some of the LS throught the SB when I put it in, a little mixing here and there, probably not necessary, though. It's fine.

How bad could it be if SiO2 is the most abundant mineral on earth(including ocean bottoms)?