Kolorscape sand at Home Depot?

[ChosenOne]

Well guys this is my first post here and my first stab at a saltwater set-up. I have been reading on this forum for about 2 weeks and learned about southdown/Oldcastle sand. I've look at all the Home Depots around here and couldn't find it. Walmarts and Kmarts, everywhere. Well last night I stopped at the last Home Depot closest to my home and found sand that fizzed in Vinegar. The package said it was by Oldcastle and distributed by another company. I have a bad memory but I think the label on the bad was Kolorscape Playsand. The guy at Home depot let me take a handful from an already open bag. Well it fizzed. Its white and looks close to sugar. My question is the bag said it contains silicates and is harmful if breathed in. Is this O.K for my fish or should my search go on for the real sand everybody has? I'll tell you guys the Home Depot in Massachusetts if anyone needs its. They had a couple dozen bags left.

[pelochas]

i think you should go for it

[indy]

It's fine, no reason to keep searching.

[ChosenOne]

Alright I'll get some more bags. If anyone wants it there at the Home Depot on Gold Star Blvd in Worcester.

[ellisz]

It is fine but is silica sand. It won't give you the buffering capabilities that aragonite does and it may have sharp edges.

Can be used though.

[Scottm]

it fizzed so obviously it will buffer the water to some degree.

[ellisz]

I think aragonite sand will practilly disolve in the vinegar test. I have read of silica sand fizzing a bit on some occasions depending on the make up of the sand.

[ChosenOne]

It said that it might contain small traces of silica. I left it in a cup with vinegar and when it stopped fizzing dumped it out and added more Vinegar. Well after almost a whole bottle of vinegar the sand was half the amount of what I put in. So it's dissolving.

[pmedley2070]

I contacted Old Castle in Delaware. They advised that the sand was mined from the Delware beaches and is safe for aquariums. I bought 200 lbs and it's been in my tank for two months witn no problems.

Pete

[ChosenOne]

GREAT!

Was it hard for you to clean the sand? Or did you throw it right in? It took me a good while to rinse it out in a 5 gallon bucket. Really milky at first.

Another question, I don't really want to start another thread.

I already have an established freshwater tank. Can I just take the filter from that tank and cycle with the pre-existing bacteria? Or saltwater cycle is entirely different and has to be started from scratch?

[pelochas]

what type of water did you rinse it with? tap water from a garden hose, RO/DI water, Filtered water?

Completely different filter and bacteria.

by the way, what size of tank and what stuff do you have or planning to have for your new SW tank?

And what type of aquarium you planning for? Fish only, Fish only with Live rock (FOWLR), or the most demanding and skilled level will be a Reef Tank.

[ChosenOne]

I rinsed it with regular tap water? Certain water makes a difference when you're rinsing the sand?

I have a brand new 46 gallon bow front. The filter will be an Emperor 500. I will soon be purchasing a Coralife 192W compact fluorescent for the lighting. The set-up for now will be FOWLR. But maybe some coral, mushrooms, or maybe even an anenome in the future. I'm not sure if the lighting will be adequate enough for any of those. But the LFS told me 192w was adequate for a 3ft tank. I already ordered 30lbs of base rock from Hirocks. When those arrive I'll purchase 25lbs of the live rock from liverocks.com. I have powerheads and everything turning the tank over about 12x when set up. Anything else needs to be done?? I just learned from what I read and found through the search button.

Fish are undecided. Any recomendations for a nice community tank for a 46 bow front?

And is R/O water really needed in a saltwater set-up? Putting just tap water and chlorinated is not enough? And if not what's a decent R/O filter I can buy that has everything and not burn a hole in my wallet that's recommended?

[pelochas]

well IMO an RO/DI water filter will keep 99.9% of the contaminents out of your tank.

you start fresh and clean, why add contaminents into a clean tank? you will begin fighting bad algea growth and phosphates before adding any livestock.

look into the classifieds, ebay, and the sponsors. i bought my Kent Maxxima RO/DI for $50.

As for that sand, rinse in tap water, i dont know if it will be bad or good for the tank. Maybe dry it out or rinse it in RO/DI water a few times before adding it to your tank.

[ellisz]

Tap water will depend on what you get in your area. Some people get away with it. I used tap water for about 10 years with no problems on a FO tank. When I started the reef tank, I started having issues. I had also moved so I blame it on the different water company.

RO/DI water is recommended and you can get RO water from most grocery stores. You do run the risk of algae issues if you don't know much about your tap water.

[ChosenOne]

I'm going to opt for an ro/di system and learn about it afterwards I guess, esp installing it. I have absolutely no idea how it works. Only when I see it up in person before I can relate to anything that is said online about it.. But buying Ro water is to expenive in the long run. My lfs is asking for a dollar a gallon. Too much imo. I'm curently bidding on a system on ebay. See how it works out.

[ellisz]

$1 per gal. Wow. That is high. Most grocery stores have it for .39-.49. It sucks to haul jugs though.

Good luck. Hooking them up is not that hard. Most come with good instructions. I got mine on Ebay and knew nothing before I put it in.

[ChosenOne]

The grocery stores here have some at about half of that at the LFS. But still. carrying it is a pain.

You don't mind me asking what ro/di system you bought? and how effective it was?

[ellisz]

I bought a Aquasafe Canada unit. The unit has been great. My TDS is 0-1 ppm after the RO/DI.

[ChosenOne]

Great. I bought it from aqua-safe yesterday. Just waiting for the shipment.

[Brenden]

I got mine on ebay. No complaints.