QuickCrete <sp> sand from HD?

[havefun]

I have a HD about 90 mins away and they say they have "QuickCrete" playsand (washed, no silica). Does anyone know anything about this brand? I don't want to drive all that way to find out I can't use it

Thanks

[Jonathan G.]

no u want to stay away from quick crete cause it has silica, the old castle brand of play sand doesnt have silica that is found there. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=22188

[havefun]

Hmmm... the guy I talked to said it was not silica...

[BDAWG]

It needs to be a tropical calcium based sand.

[swissfish]

Hmmm... the guy I talked to said it was not silica...


hey never ask the HD guys)

[Jonathan G.]

yea if you look at the sand and it has a glassy appearance or shimmer then it has silica usually.

[mjvincent]

HD said no silica... You were probably talking to someone who didn't know there were different types of sand. I was on the phone for hours with HD and never did find any argonite sand... I would definitely look for the words TROPICAL playsand. Quickkrete sand is silica based. Here is the link with the MSDS for their products... http://www.quikrete.com/downloads/MS...d%20gravel.pdf

[youronlysin]

I think its important to note that the tropical playsand that your looking for is not stocked by every Home Depot store across the country and is even quite a rare find. The stuff is simply not available in the west, where I moved from Idaho not long ago. I also can not find it in Virginia at my new residence. It has even been rumored that the company may stop making the sand altogether. If you do find some, get as much as you can. If you ask at your local Home Depot, chances are they have no idea what your talking about and cant even get the stuff delivered to their store. Dont ask me why..it seems silly to me.

[havefun]

OK, thanks for the info.
Looks like I'm stuck getting it at my lfs.

[BDAWG]

Well, one more thing you could try is your local gardening store. I'm not sure if they have it but you could always try calling. Ask for a brand called "Yardright tropical playsand". The only reason I suggest this is I was checking out the Yardright website and it said something about contacting your local Garden center. Like I said, I'm not sure but you could always try.

Good luck!

[havefun]

Thanks for the tip.
Also, I was just wondering... dumb question but I have to ask.... why can it NOT be silica? Will the "good" bacteria (yeah, I'm new at this), not grow on it?

[BDAWG]

It's got a bunch of bad stuff in it. I've heard of SW keepers using it, but personally I think it's just wrong. I wouldn't want to live in a tub of water with all these chemicals...

http://www.u-s-silica.com/MSDS/msds_quartz_html.html

[havefun]

ok, I've just done some googling for "silica sand for aquarium" and am finding that it may not be so bad, such as this article..

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen9.html

I am so totally confused now. I just can't see spending $150 for sand at my lfs if silica will be just fine. With the money I would save I could buy some base/live rock.

Opinions?

[youronlysin]

There are other reasons aragonite sands are better for a saltwater tank. Silica sands may not be bad, but there is still the truth that aragonite is better if you can get it. I dont know all of the nutrients that a reef needs to grow and be healthy, but I know that calcium is one of those and helps promote corraline algae growth. Not to mention the buffering capacity arogonitic sands provide. You may very well have decent luck using a quartz based sand, but the fact is, a good calcium carbonate based (aragonitic) sand is invaluable in a saltwater aquarium.

The article you provided is a great one. Very informative and you might elect to try using a quartz sand in your tank. It would be a great experiment to see how well it works for you. good luck!

[skennelly]

Also worth mentioning is that silica sand has alot of sharp jagged edges in it and if you have sand sifting critters it can be not so good.

[greatgman]

u CAN use it
but it will NOT have any buffering capabilities
seems it would be better to get the yardright or old castle tropical stuff
i have 120#'s of caribisea aragamax select
have no probs with the levels (need more)
and coraline is starting to grow
if u use the silica stuff you will have to constantly buffer the water