Sand from Home Depot

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EMS503

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
471
Location
Lakewood, NJ
A few weeks ago their was a post that had a picture of play sand from Home Depot. I belive it was Tropical play sand. I found this at HD it is made by Old Castle and is silica free, But it say's it is not recommended for aquariums. Is this the same sand?
 
The disclamer is there to remove them from liablity if something does enter your tank via the sand as a contaminant.
 
CaribSea get's their sand from the same place as Old Castle/Southdown, due to the contracts with CaribSea, in order for Old Castle/Southdown to get sand from that place, they have to put that on the bag.
 
I work at a Menards not sure if any of you have heard of it but its a place exactly like HD. They have stuff called play sand but not sure if its the right stuff?? What do i look for?
 
I am not sure how to bring the site to this post, But if you go to the top of the page and type in play sand it will bring you to different post's about play sand. From what I have read you want to stay away from sand that is silica based. The post's explain what to look for. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=7096&highlight=play+sand I think this will bring you to one of the post's if not try the search method.
 
Aragonite is preferred for its buffering capabilities and its aesthetically pleasing white color. If you can find that, great. If not, your sandbed will not be harmed by being comprised of silica sand. The idea that it causes algae blooms is a myth, the only real detriment is the opposite of the aragonite....no buffering and it is brown.
 
If you use silica that is brown you are adding feldspar to your tank and it will most certainly cause algae blooms. You want 100% silica and it should say somewhere on it it is not safe to breath the dust. This makes sense cause it is ground glass ;)
 
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