Play Sand?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone used Play Sand for part or all of their sandbed?

 

[Will C1]

most play sand is super high in silicates which in turn will give you a horrendous diatom bloom. while some silica is good for the reef tanks inhabitants too much is a bad thing. i would stick to cc or live sand or more of the commercialy available stuff if i was going to put it in my tank.

 

[Marcosreef]

Yes, Southdown Tropical Play Sand. At less than $5 a bag locally, it's an unbeatable value. I used it for 100% of my DSB.

Marco

 

[Will C1]

yes that would be good but bang bang lives by me and unor tuniately there is no south down at the home depot's near us

 

[Anonymous]

yes that would be good but bang bang lives by me and unor tuniately there is no south down at the home depot's near us

Would like to get some of that southdown. I am pickin up my tank this week if I have the money.....hell I am goin to do it even if I don't have the money. I may need some help.

 

[electric130]

HD in cincinnati had some southdown a couple weeks ago. in Norwood and Beechmont/Eastgate (can't remember which one)

 

[GSchiemer]

Any idea why it specifically says "not recommended for aquarium use" at the bottom of the bag? Has anyone ever called the company and asked this question?

Greg

 

[Syris]

GSchiemer,

I caught that little disclaimer at the bottom of the bag from his pic too.
What puzzles me is I used 150# of it in my tank a year ago (no problems) and the bags did not have the disclaimer.

I smell a Conspiracy!! 8O :lol:

 

[Marrowbone]

I know, I love that note. Some old southdown thread mentioned that some of this exact sand gets packaged by Caribsea (?) "for aquariums" and gets the appropriate huge markup. It's probably to appease them. :lol:

 

[GSchiemer]

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, so I don't believe the disclaimer has anything to do with Carib-Sea. My concern is that the warning is related to residuals from the sterilization process or contaminants in the sand itself.

Greg

 

[danmhippo]

BTW, WillC, silica sand are pretty inert and there has been no evidences that using silica sand result in diatom bloom. It's all rumors. In fact, all tanks will suffer at least one or more diatom bloom in their life time. There are plenty of great reef tanks not using any aragonite sand.

 

[danmhippo]

Greg, are you implying that if someone run a simple test of soaking the sand in NSW, we may actually find contaminants or heavy metal concentration in the solution after a couple days of soaking?

Hmmm, this could be interesting topic for the next phase of tests......

 

[lawndoctor]

My concern is that the warning is related to . . . contaminants in the sand itself.

You are exactly correct. The South Down people say the reason for their warning is that they use the same machinery to handle play sand and many other products, so the play sand can become contaminated with other products before bagging. They are telling the truth. Two years ago I received a contaminated batch and it ruined my tank. Some other material was present in the sand which turned to cement in my tank. It had to be chiseled off everything in the tank including all tank surfaces, skimmer, sump, overflows, probes, pumps.

 

[electric130]

the same company that supplies sand to southdown also supplies sand for carib-sea. don't remember where i saw that, but it was true, not hear-say. they put the disclaimer on the bags so that if you do use it in your aquarium and something happens, they're not responsible. they also want you to purchase the carib-sea sand so that they make more money from it.thousands of people are using this sand in their tanks for years and have had no problem with it. it is sterilized anyway. if you're worried about heavy metals being leached out, just run some carbon and a poly-filter (heavy metal remover) for awhile.

 

[Syris]

lawndoctor,

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experince with it. How long did it take to turn you're sand to cement?

I know plenty of people including myself that have been using SD for 1-2 years with no problems (sand is loose). I have read of even Caribsea sand clumping under certain conditions.

I do agree though that if there are possable contimants in SD sand then aquarist should be aware of it. But most use it setting up a new tank which is going to sit for a time cycling anyway. In that time frame it is conceivable that any contaminants may precipate out or are removed by water changes. Just my opinon.

Im no chemist or anything just an IT guy :roll: But whatever the case maybe I'll still use SD and plan on using for my refugium.

BangBang,
And you thought this was going to be a simple post huh? :wink:

 

[lawndoctor]

How long did it take to turn you're sand to cement? . . . .
I have read of even Caribsea sand clumping under certain conditions.

It started immediately and coated everything within 2-3 hours. Just to be clear: This wasn't "clumping." This was a thin layer of cement deposited on all surfaces, including all the lines (had to be replaced), throughout the filtration system (had to use a paint scraper or wire brush), and pH probe (had to be replaced). I know of one other person who had the same experience.

If you are going to use play sand in your tank, I would suggest you test a sample from each bag first. Put a handful in a small bucket of sea water, mix it around, let it settle, leave it for a few hours, and see whether a cement coating forms.

 

[Marrowbone]

... I have read of even Caribsea sand clumping under certain conditions. ...

OK, I can't find it. Maybe some kindly RDOT member can: Isn't it possible to turn your sandbed into solid cement without there being contaminants in the sand? Is it a wild pH that can do this?

If you want to pay more for the guarantee that the sand was handled properly from start to finish, I guess it could make the markup reasonable. But, I think people have been having some pretty good success with this cheap stuff.

 

[Garry thomas]

I use play sand, although the bags i bought, did'nt say not for aquarium use. Also silicates in sand is a differant thing to silicates in water. I think sand is a bg rip off, just like other marine related items.

 

[Anonymous]

How long did it take to turn you're sand to cement? . . . .
I have read of even Caribsea sand clumping under certain conditions.

It started immediately and coated everything within 2-3 hours. Just to be clear: This wasn't "clumping." This was a thin layer of cement deposited on all surfaces, including all the lines (had to be replaced), throughout the filtration system (had to use a paint scraper or wire brush), and pH probe (had to be replaced). I know of one other person who had the same experience.

If you are going to use play sand in your tank, I would suggest you test a sample from each bag first. Put a handful in a small bucket of sea water, mix it around, let it settle, leave it for a few hours, and see whether a cement coating forms.

The clumping is caused by excess calcium in tank from the water and/or substrate. People that use to much calcium supplements will experience clumping.

 

[GSchiemer]

My concern is that the warning is related to . . . contaminants in the sand itself.

You are exactly correct. The South Down people say the reason for their warning is that they use the same machinery to handle play sand and many other products, so the play sand can become contaminated with other products before bagging. They are telling the truth. Two years ago I received a contaminated batch and it ruined my tank. Some other material was present in the sand which turned to cement in my tank. It had to be chiseled off everything in the tank including all tank surfaces, skimmer, sump, overflows, probes, pumps.

It sounds like the addition of the sand caused some kind of a precipitation event in your aquarium. Perhaps it was contaminated with lime.

Greg