Southdown sand

[ReefRaff]

Should I, Could I use ALL Southdown sand for My new 50 G? Or should I put Something else with it? such as Aragonite, Or CC. Rock and sand is all there will be for a Filter, so I'm not sure whether to use all sand, or a mix?

Keep in mind I'll keep things like watchman gobies, small stars, and mostly fish for the rest.

Tim Wagner.

[jamesx2]

howdy,

i went with all sand, and lots of LR. Working great

[ReefRaff]

I have to go to Columbus Home depot to get it. Unless someone near Cleveland, Oh has 150LBS to sell me? Tim.

[SW Beginner]

I would use mostly Southdown and then add a couple pounds of LS from you LFS and try to get a cup or two off fellow reefers.

[ReefLady]

Or should I put Something else with it? such as Aragonite, Or CC.

FWIW, Southdown is Aragonite.

I wouldn't add crushed coral - too large of a grain size.

I would use mostly Southdown and then add a couple pounds of LS from you LFS and try to get a cup or two off fellow reefers.

Ditto.

[troutman11111]

most of it sand, then some LS. but be forwarned about the live sand you get. alot of it might be dead, which in return will start to cycle your tank. amonia levels will be present.check your water perm often after the live sand is added. do not add any fish right away. a choking fish is a horrible thing.

[ReefRaff]

Thanks Troutman, and all, I found the sand I needed in Mansfeild yesterday, 350lbs
This is all going in a new setup, so I'm not worried about new cycle. I'll be waiting for the LS, and LR to cycle the tank before I add fish.

[cmor1701d]

Are you putting all 350 pounds of SD in that 50?
I used 300 in my 125 (72x18) and 40 of ls. My sand bed is 5"-7"
I used several calculators found on different sites. The results were between 270 and 372 pounds, the latter being from the calculator on this site.
The calculator at http://reefcentral.com/calc/SandBed.php allows you to enter the "Pounds per cubic foot" as part of your calculation.
From that site:
"* According to CaribSea,
"Most all the aragonites weigh 70 lbs/cubic foot.
The Aragamax, Aragamax Select, and Aragamax Grand Bahama
weigh about 90-100 lbs/cubic foot."

My calculations were as follows:

You will need approximately 338 pounds of sand
to achieve a 5 inch depth in a 72 x 18 inch tank
assuming the sand weighs 90 pounds per cubic foot.

You will need approximately 263 pounds of sand
to achieve a 5 inch depth in a 72 x 18 inch tank
assuming the sand weighs 70 pounds per cubic foot.

[ReefRaff]

No I have a new 50G that's going to have 4" in it (149lbs) 18x36
I also have a 75 G that's going to have 3" (149lbs) 18x48, but I need to tear down the 75 and reconstruct the wall and cabinat so it will hold the 75, two more tanks, the 50 and a 36 G, and a 200gallon sump to go underneath. but I may also build a closet to hold a 100 or 150 gallon refuge also, but I haven't decided wether or not to do that or build the refuge into the sump.

[fishfreek]

I used several calculators found on different sites.

How did this sites calculator fare? Just curious. Obviously since most calculators have a pre set weigh per square inch they are going to come out different depending on what that cubic inch weight is.

[ReefRaff]

I'd like to know also, since this site is the one I used.

[ReefLady]

Our DSB is pretty deep - 4" at the shallowest, to 7" in most spots. We used 11 bags of Southdown (550lbs), and added another (approx.) 100lbs of live sand. So, about 650 lbs - or 13 bags - in a 180g - 72" x 24" footprint, with an average depth of 6".

HTH,

[cmor1701d]

FF, it was in my post:
"The results were between 270 and 372 pounds, the latter being from the calculator on this site"

AA had the highest number. I think you should tweak it it bit or allow the user to enter the weight per cubic foot (perhaps with some examples, which might be hard to get).

[fishfreek]

Oh, Guess I am a culprit of not reading the post completely.

If I had such measurements I would be glad to enhance the calculator but really aside from going out and buying a bunch of differnt brands of sand I think it will be hard to know what X brand sand weights per cubic inch or foot or anything else.

Also, some calcs base the weight on dry and while others base it upon wet sand. As you can imagen wet sand is heaver than white sand. Also sand of larger particles will weigh less than those of smaller particles as you can get less and in the same cubic inch.

[cmor1701d]

I would hope that the manufacturers/retailers would be able to tell you the dry weight per cubic foot. The Southdown I bought was quite wet from condensation and weighed more than the 50 pounds stated on the bag.

For instance, on the Carib Sea web site I found the following:
"To compute the amount of aragonite needed for your set-up, use the following equation: length of tank x width of tank x bed depth desired, divide the answer by 1,728, then multiply x 70. This is the poundage needed. "

Using that calculation for my tank (72 * 18 * 5" dsb) yields 262.5 pounds or jsut over 5 bags of Southdown (SD being the same as Carib Sea aragonite sand).
I used 6 bags and 40 pounds of LS and have a 5"-7"+ dsb.

[ReefRaff]

That sounds about right. in my case it came up 9lbs short of the this website's calculator.

[fishfreek]

We factor our weight in a measure of cubic inch. Right now the calculator uses 1 Cubic Inch of sand = .05750lbs

This was developed based upon the weight from http://www.purearagonite.com and from www.candybass.com I took both measurements and since I knew the candybass.com measurement was calculating WET sand I split the difference basicly to get a decent average.

[ReefRaff]

Well I bought what this site told me to + one bag, so I'm happy

My next stop is well, home depot again. I was thinking of making a maze of pvc, to go along the back of the tank, with multiple inlets/outlets, and rock piled up around it. Kindof like a suken sewer system. do ya'all think the fish would use the pipes, or does this sound stupid? Tim.

[firemouth4416]

Originally Posted by fishfreek

How did this sites calculator fare? Just curious. Obviously since most calculators have a pre set weigh per square inch they are going to come out different depending on what that cubic inch weight is.

Hi this discussion is a little old but I have been trying to get Southdown Tropical play sand for over a month and I finaly have some. I am in Illinois, around Chicago, dupage county about 25 miles west of the city. I am setting up a 150 gallon tank and didn't want to pay over 300 dollars for sand. I followed searches on this site to where you can get a ton for 20 dollars and it got me motivated to find a cheaper way.
Well over a month later, 30+ hours on the internet and being forced to buy a whole pallet of Southdown sand I am finally getting sand at a reasonable price. Now to the point of this long winded note. I have a pallet of Southdown Tropical Play sand for sale by the 50lb bag. All the money earned from this sand will go to support my habit.....fish. I am also willing to trade for live rock that is the next step in creating my tank. What price? .35 cents a pound is about a third of the alternatives. Thats 17.50 a 50 lb bag and you wont pay shipping if you pick up.
Let me know what you think anyone.

[dustybrannum]

I was looking for a sku # on the southdown sand so my local home depot will order me some.