I was thinking about using real ocean for my new 90gal., but aint sure where to get it from. I am going to be staying at a beach in FL., and I think i want to go out into the water say.....100ft. or so because i would like to get some good sand, and being from Oh. i dont know where the good sand is. Sounds like a silly question to me, but i need to know. Thanks
Ocean sand
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You risk pollution, but the old rule of thumb used to be looking for a secluded area where there was an abundance of sea life, mainly invertebrates, and take from there. Call one of the aquariums since one probably uses a flow-through system and can tell you some of the "cleaner" areas. Why not purchase dry sand instead?
roka64
Aquarium Advice Addict
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While you are down there, look for New (old) castle dry sand...I think that is the name, I heard Fl is where they get a lot of that sand. Check the local Wal Mart or HD/Lowes, they may have it in stock. Look for the aragonite sand. It's easy to tell, dump some vinegar on some sand and if if fizzles or foams pretty good, that's the stuff you want.
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
Can't agree more. With now much time/$ invested in our tanks, starting out with something that you're never really sure about is just too risky for my taste. Granted... you can "see" really bad pollution, but there's a lot you can't see too. Even if it's out XXX ft.
Skyrmir
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Look for a construction site. Florida isn't really a land mass, it's a coral reef. So there's almost no soil, just sand. Any time they dig for a building, they dig up fresh clean sand.
In general you want to avoid the sand within a mile or so of the beach unless you know the area well. The cities put out a lot of sewage and other pollutants that gets concentrated on the beaches. There are clean area's where they manage to keep people from polluting things, but if you're close to a port, it's a lost cause. And there's a lot of ports.
In general you want to avoid the sand within a mile or so of the beach unless you know the area well. The cities put out a lot of sewage and other pollutants that gets concentrated on the beaches. There are clean area's where they manage to keep people from polluting things, but if you're close to a port, it's a lost cause. And there's a lot of ports.
Speaking of construction sites, the main company who provides Southdown and Old Castle resides there and will sell to the public, but unfortunately in great quantity. Still worth looking into! Do a search on RC since I cannot remember the drilling company's name.
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
Give them a call - tell them you want it for your bushes. They will sell it to you.. but you have to shovel it yourself.. (the smallest front end loader they have carries 5 yards )
Marcona Ocean Industries
20 Avenue M
Fort Pierce, FL 34952
561-464-1836
4018 Retford Dr
Jacksonville, FL 32225
904-646-3595
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MENTION AQUARIUM USE. They will hang up on you or not sell you any.
Bag what you don't need and sell it for $10 / 40 pound bag.
Sand from the ocean not only carries the potential of pollution, it could also contain parasites that you do not want in your tank. I would not do it.
Marcona Ocean Industries
20 Avenue M
Fort Pierce, FL 34952
561-464-1836
4018 Retford Dr
Jacksonville, FL 32225
904-646-3595
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MENTION AQUARIUM USE. They will hang up on you or not sell you any.
Bag what you don't need and sell it for $10 / 40 pound bag.
Sand from the ocean not only carries the potential of pollution, it could also contain parasites that you do not want in your tank. I would not do it.
I just wanderd, The lfs i go to sells sand from the ocean just full of pods, but its 4 dollars a lb. I am setting up a 90 gal., so i figured i would get a couple hundred lbs. of it right out of the ocean for free. I did not think about pollution, and parasites. Maybe i will just buy some dry sand. Thanks again
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
Are you sure the lfs is getting the sand from the ocean? Many lfs will well LS that is just sand that they maintain in their reef tanks or other special tanks with LR.
LS from the ocean can unknown pods that are harmful as well as the good pods. Checkout Pills, Parasites, and Predators; Isopods in the Reef Aquarium.
LS from the ocean can unknown pods that are harmful as well as the good pods. Checkout Pills, Parasites, and Predators; Isopods in the Reef Aquarium.
waterfaller1
Aquarium Advice Freak
The Fish & Game Com. stopped collectors from dredging sand in Florida. It is against the law to take sand,rock from the beach or ocean. Buy some carib sea aragonite. You can buy Old castle{used to be southdown} at SOME HD's under the name of "playsand". Do a vinegar test to insure it is aragonite.{there is usually some that has spilled from the bags} If it is, it will fizz.
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
Old Castle stopped buying from Marcona about two years ago. They no longer market any carribean play sand. Home Depot has been out of it for about that long too, unless some store has old stock lying around. It was sold as 'Southdown', Olde Castle' or 'YardRight' but always said 'tropical play sand' on the bag.
Attachments
According to Home Depot as of two years ago, they received Southdown as a wholesale product and YardRight for retail. I cannot remember the specifics of how Old Castle came into play (I posted about it on RC a while back), but they are all from Marcona according to Marcona. I haven't bothered to contact any of them since, but it as Cmor stated it's all downhill from there. Don't mind my ramblings...lol
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
No problem. I have the whole thread from RC saved and did a lot of research on my own a few years back. I had no trouble getting it but when it got scarce I called Oldcastle Prodcuts. That is the company in PA that bought it from Marcona and packaged it as Southdown, YardRight and Old Castle tropical playsand.
I think Marcona has an agreement with the pet suppliers to NOT sell it for home aquarium use. That's why the bags sold by Oldcastle all specifically stated "Not for aqaurium use". I do not know this for a fact but I surmise that Marcona complained to Oldcastle that their warning statement was not enough and pulled the plug on supplying them or raised the price to where other sources were cheaper for Oldcastle.
I think Marcona has an agreement with the pet suppliers to NOT sell it for home aquarium use. That's why the bags sold by Oldcastle all specifically stated "Not for aqaurium use". I do not know this for a fact but I surmise that Marcona complained to Oldcastle that their warning statement was not enough and pulled the plug on supplying them or raised the price to where other sources were cheaper for Oldcastle.
