--= Best deal on Aragonite sand? =--

[J Crew]

alright, i want to order my sand today but would like to find a good deal if available. i've contacted http://www.purearagonite.com/ and they said that two 40lb bags shipped to my door would cost $55.50 bucks. and i also found a place that has southdown sand in 50lb bags... he said two bag shipped to my door would be like $62.00 bucks. are these the best deals out there? if so which one would you suggest? thanks

 

[Katspaw]

I take it home depot in your area doesn't carry it? Sand is heavy and you will be paying for it to be shipped to you. I would say go get some off the beach but that's illegal in the state of Florida

Tracey

 

[noblejames1]

hi I am also looking to get sand. I am replacing my undergravel filter with a sand bed. I live in Canada and am not sure if it is legal to collect sand off the beaches here. Are there any special percautions pertaining to cleaning sand off harvested from beaches? Any parasites?
thanks

 

[Nameless]

Catspaw, are you sure it's illegal? I asked the other day and someone said you are allowed to take one bucket a day....

I ask because I'm going to be down there next week, and I was hoping to get some real live sand to seed a dsb I'm planning....

 

[J Crew]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Nameless:
<strong>I ask because I'm going to be down there next week, and I was hoping to get some real live sand to seed a dsb I'm planning....</strong><hr></blockquote>

i mean i'm not sure because i'm very new to reefing (don't even have my tank setup completely yet)... but wouldn't you have to go out aways to get the LS. i live 15 minutes from the beach and wouldn't think that sand is live. i guess i could be though, just wouldn't think so. just like if you put some rock in the water there it's not going to become anything... but if you dumped many miles out then it would start growing life on it. like i said i don't know, just throwing out a thought.

oh and by the way... it's very illegal to take our beach sand. i live in pace, which is a suburb of pensacola. and the pensacola - destin area beach is known for having the whitest beaches in the world. so i'm not sure about the legallity of taking sand from other parts of florida... but who would want to, it's too contaminated with trash. for example, alot of beaches in south fl allow cars to drive ont them... you wouldn't want that sand. thanks everyone for the info on the aragonite, peace

 

[Nameless]

That's where I'm going to be! In Destin! So it's not legal to take any sand from there?

Can I do any good snorkeling there from the beach, or do I need to go on a boat somewhere?

 

[davelin315]

I bought 40 lb. bags of aragonite from a good lfs, and it cost me $23 per bag. That's about the cheapest I've seen anywhere. As far as Southdown sand, it costs $2 or $3 at Home Depot if you can get it, so the people who are selling it for huge huge markups are kind of ripping you off (although some of those people are actually going way out of their way to get it, the guy I bought it from asked for $7 a bag, which I jumped at, since most ask for a minimum of $15). Actually, let me correct myself, the merchants who are selling it are ripping you off. Hobbyists are just trying to support their habits, not make a buck off of you (for the most part).

 

[J Crew]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Nameless:
<strong>That's where I'm going to be! In Destin! So it's not legal to take any sand from there?

Can I do any good snorkeling there from the beach, or do I need to go on a boat somewhere?</strong><hr></blockquote>

well i guess you could snorkel off the destin beach. you would have to swim out a ways to atleast the 1st sandbar and probably the 2nd sandbar before you saw anything of interest. if you wanna see really cool stuff, then find a charter boat and have them take you to same of the shipwrecks in the area so you can snorkel around them. the water in destin is crystal clear so you'll be able to see really good. another thing... if you plan on snorkeling, make sure you're ready for cold water. i mean it's not unbareable right now... but it's is chilly. well, hope you have a good time there. while you're there check out the resturaunt McGuires... it's a really nice Irish resturaunt/pub. besides the food being good, the atmosphere is wonderful. get an Irish Wake while you're there too (if you drink)... they're really good. peace