Sand??

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mkobu

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
33
Location
Kissimmee, FL
Hello all

Since I live Florida and I am fixing to set up my 250g soon I need to know if it is possible to get sand from one of the beaches and cycle it before adding fish? If I cant use it as a live sand because of polutants (Ideally I would goto Keys and go out 2 miles on a boat and get sand but....) can I use it if I sift it then fresh water (or bleached water) soak it and dry it will it be safe for substrate??

It would be nice to fill the tank with sand vs. the crushed coral that came with it.....

And the kids love goin to the beach so I have a good excuse to do it if possible!

Thanks for any help..

P.S. If you live here in Florida and know of any good places to get it let me know...by the way I am in central Florida....I am close to Daytona, Melbourne, Sebastian inlet or Coaco beaches....
 
well, if u cant get sand from beach?
where can u get it ?
i dont see the pet store carry sand...lol
or......use the sand for construction? :)
good?
 
arrow1234 said:
well, if u cant get sand from beach?
where can u get it ?
i dont see the pet store carry sand...lol
or......use the sand for construction? :)
good?

Where do you live? Most all pets stores I've ever been to carry sand. :)
 
If your up for a drive try the leesburg pet center in leesburg, its right by the office depot on highway 27 just south of where highway 441 splits off to go to orlando. You can call an ask them ahead of time to see what they have in stock and if they dont have enough they will always order you a couple cases. Ask for Gene or Danny! HTH
 
Devilishturtles said:
arrow1234 said:
well, if u cant get sand from beach?
where can u get it ?
i dont see the pet store carry sand...lol
or......use the sand for construction? :)
good?

Where do you live? Most all pets stores I've ever been to carry sand. :)

oh... maybe i didnt notice that
 
Here you go!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004+113554

From my experience, I would stick with sand and not CC (crushed coral), others like it, but I didn't. I wouldn't waste my money on LS (live sand), I would just go with the carib sea sand. I find it hard to believe the LS is really live, since it has been sitting on the shelf, with no aireation or movement. Just my experience.

OR....if you can find aragonite sand, NOT silica based sand (which I believe is what most construction companies use), you should be good.
A good test is, take some vinegar with you and pour it on the sand. If it FIZZLES/FOAMS, is it aragonite sand.
 
roka64 said:
Here you go!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004+113554

From my experience, I would stick with sand and not CC (crushed coral), others like it, but I didn't. I wouldn't waste my money on LS (live sand), I would just go with the carib sea sand. I find it hard to believe the LS is really live, since it has been sitting on the shelf, with no aireation or movement. Just my experience.

OR....if you can find aragonite sand, NOT silica based sand (which I believe is what most construction companies use), you should be good.
A good test is, take some vinegar with you and pour it on the sand. If it FIZZLES/FOAMS, is it aragonite sand.

wow......impressive, didnt know that b4 :)
 
Ummm I ask because I can be at the beach in like 40 minutes or so.... There are places like Sebastian Inlet where while filled with people and also smaller boats the water's current is fast so I would think the sand would be safe..many years ago I got some rock from there and it flourished well. (Can also goto the beach side which seems to always have strong currents.)

or can make a 2 day trip down south to Ft. Lauderdale or possibly even the Keys one day...

I figure the sand will still be alive (1 hour or so in a bucket shouldnt kill to much!) and the tank will have nothing in it to worry about...my only thought is does sand from this close to land have to much pollution to hurt a tank? I don't see why though as mother nature seems to maintain her water qaulities jus fine....
 
my only thought is does sand from this close to land have to much pollution to hurt a tank? I don't see why though as mother nature seems to maintain her water qaulities jus fine....
Keep in mind that there is a slight water volume difference between the ocean and your tank. A principal philosophy in SW tanks is that "bigger is better". This is true because larger tanks resist change in water parameters, are more stable and can "absorb" slight changes in parameters better due to more volume. Slightly polluted water in the ocean has little effect just due to the vast amount of water. Take this same slightly polluted water and put it in your tank and it would spell disaster. Play it safe and follow the advice given here...skip the beach sand.
 
But no-one answered....

Good points Lando...but the only advice was one not to use the beach sand (Which I wasnt planning I want to wade out and get from water.) then it went to conversation of buy it at a LFS (Dont want to pay $30 for a 20lb bag of sand) or goto a construction supply store (Which I believe would be about as safe as digging up sand from my yard to use since they do not monitor or care where it comes from or what is in it due to the fact it is only destined to become cement and who cares what goes in cement...)

Many of the LS companies claim they go out many miles to get the sand but I don't know if I really believe them ( If you owned a ship would you risk it going out 5+ miles just to fill up with sand... kinda expensive and dangerous I would think...They probably just do it off a dock too..)

Since the tank will be a new set-up I dont have to worry about fish... I just wonder if I could use the sand from the ocean or if it should washed and dried out before using?? Wouldnt any chemical pollutants float on waters surface and not penetrate the sand at the bottom?? Any debris pollution ie. cans,bottle caps etc. could be hand picked out....

There has to be someone here who gets sand and fish from the ocean......
 
I would stop by your local home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowe's and look for play sand for a sandbox. It is cheap and will work just fine. Make sure it is aragonite based sand and not silicate sand.
 
I have heard people using the sand from the ocean before. Can't say for sure but I would think as long as you took precautions. I would think washing and drying the sand would be fine to clean it. May be wrong, but I don't see it being the end of the world as long as you are careful.
 
IMO, washing and drying the sand defeats the purpose of using LS from the ocean. All of the beneficial bacteria will be destroyed. If you go this route, it may end up costing more money and being far less convenient then just going to the store.
 
very true, it would not serve the purpose of LS anymore. Would just be sand, would have to do the same things to establish beneficial bacteria as you would with store-bought sand.
 
Would just be sand, would have to do the same things to establish beneficial bacteria as you would with store-bought sand.
This is true, however, buying "live sand" in a bag off the self a the LFS is also a waste of money. It is more like wet dead sand at a premium price. I suggest getting aragonite play sand and seeding it wil a few cups of LS from an established reef tank. You may be able to coax the LFS sout of some substrate if you have a good relationship with them.
 
..

Well I guess maybe I will try both....since it's such a big tank and needs several hundred pounds!! I'll go off to the inlet one day and get the live and add it to some from the depot... At least it wont be so much $. I will just have to to some big H2O changes a few times before adding fish.

Figure it's a fun day and I can easy get about 10 buckets full in the back of the van with all the kids junk. Maybe fill when tide is out so that I can get further out....

If the water has poor qaulities or looks cloudy after some time or smells etc. I can always start over....

I know the washing would of killed off everything but I was just thinking of the price ....$0 vs. depot/Lowes $$$


Thanks for the input!

Be sure to check out my post in DIY on chiller idea and see what you think.......


Mike
 
I'll go off to the inlet one day

Good luck! I hope you don't get any kinds of nasty hitchhikers or disease. Keep us posted!
 
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