Dry Sand....Is it safe for me to use ?

[Fulinn]

Good Evening !

I'm almost there ! Getting ready to set up the 75 gall tank.

Now I'm looking at options for Sand. With the warmer weather coming all kinds of sand is for sale locally, for childrens sand boxes.

Can I use it ? It says on the bag that it has been sterlized and is silica free. No other information is available.

So can I buy this and add "critters" later?


I'd like to save some money, but not at the expense of my tank.



Thanks



Bonnie

 

[Anonymous]

Silica free? Well, you may want to make sure it is all calcium carbonate sand by mix it with vinegar to see if it "dissolves"

You can add critters later by getting a small amount of live sand.

 

[Fulinn]

so it this the vinegar test I keep reading about. ?

I take a small sample of the sand, stir in some vinegar and the sand should disolve ? If it disolves completely then the sand is safe for my tank ?

I'll do it right away, sure would be nice if that were to work out.

Bonnie

 

[Anonymous]

Well, "dissolve" is not the right word, but you got the idea. Just don't try to add too much sand to the vinega. Just a few grains is sufficient if you can get bubble out. Almost all carbonate sand is whitish in color (think chalk), and does not give you shape edge when you break it apart (think glass).

 

[jandree22]

Not sure if it's still available, but if you can find the brand "Southdown" play sand at Home Depot, that's calcium based and good to use.

 

[Fulinn]

Thanks for all the reply -- I go sand hunting this weekend !

Now the question How much do I need.

I have a 75 gallon standard glass tank. I'd like a sand bed about 4" deep.

Do you think that 150 pounds will be enough ?

Bonnie

 

[Fulinn]

Ok, went sand shopping today at my local Home depot.

They have "play" sand, white in color. I did the vinegar test and it bubbled away just fine ! Passed a magnet across the the sand, NO sand stuck to the magnet. I was overjoyed as its only 4.95 per 40 # bag.

However, on the bag it stated "Not for use in Aquariums".

This product does contain small amounts of silica.

So, has anyone had the opportunity to use this sand ? Have any thoughts on the warning not to use in aquariums ?

Although I do live in the Northeast, when I asked my local HD for Southdown sand, he said they don't carry it. They only have the brownish "play sand" and this white, red or blue KolorScape Sand.

Thanks for your thoughts

Bonnie

 

[jandree22]

How do you know it contains Silica? Does it specifically say so?

If it fizzed with vinegar, it appears it's carbonate based and good for saltwater usage. The "Not for aquariums" warning probably is meant for the opposite of your situation. Probably refferring to use on freshwater tanks where it'd make the tank water really hard and raise the pH. This is what you want in a saltwater tank, so the warning, if my thinking is correct, doesn't apply to you.

Second opinions anyone??

 

[ChrisRD]

Southdown used to have the same "not for aquarium use" warning and loads of people have used it with no issues.

Marcona Ocean Industries used to supply (and maybe still do?) the sand to both CaribSea and Southdown (which I believe is now sold under a different name - I think Old Castle or Yardright - someone correct me there if I'm confused). The warning on the Southdown playsand apparently had something to do with a non-compete agreement between CaribSea and Southdown. Also, use of an aragonite sand in freshwater aquaria would result in very hard water as it will dissolve pretty rapidly at those pH levels, so the warning could be somewhat intended for that case as well.

At any rate, it sounds like the stuff you found would be fine to use IMO. As to how much you would need - if it's similar in density to Southdown and you wanted a 4"+ deep bed you'd need almost 200 pounds but 4 bags (4 X 40 = 160 lbs.) would be close enough (assuming standard 75 gallon dimensions of 48" long X 18" wide).

HTH

 

[Fulinn]

The bag stated that it may contain silica which is dangerous to breath.

I bet your right about the warning being for freshwater usage, which I was not aware of.

It definitely bubbled when we combined it with vinegar and no reaction to the magnet.

The grain size was a little larger than I wanted but I don't think thats a major consideration. Right ?

Bonnie

 

[PikachuSalad]

Ok, went sand shopping today at my local Home depot.

They have "play" sand, white in color. I did the vinegar test and it bubbled away just fine.....

What was the brand?

 

[jandree22]

Now that Chris mentioned it, I do remember hearing about the agreement between Southdown and CaribSea being the real reason behind the warning… although my initial assumption may still be correct, too :wink:

 

[Fulinn]

Thank you to everyone for your help. I have decided I will buy 4 bags of kolorScape Sand.


Any good suggestions for how to rinse so much sand ?

I will post a picture of the bag as soon as I buy it sometime this week, this weekend at the latest.

Bonnie

 

[ChrisRD]

I was in Home Depot yesterday and noticed this KolorScape sand. It says it's distributed by Old Castle right on the bag {although it doesn't appear to be as white as Southdown was).

Easiest way to rinse sand IMO is with a bucket and hose (outside :wink: ). Just put some sand in the bucket, fill the bucket with water, then stir while you continue adding water and letting it overflow. The silt/dust gets washed over the side while the larger particles remain in the bucket.

HTH

 

[Rob Top]

I just bought 4 bags of this kolorright from oldcastle. It isn't bubbling in distilled vinager. Is there a differant type of vinager I should be useing? Should it bubble right away?

 

[Fulinn]

I just tested KolorShape sand at my local HD.

It passed the bubble test for me using Distlled white vinegar. We put a very small amount of sand in our hand, added some vinegar and the sand bubbled ok.

I am planning to buy 4 bags this afternoon. I hope I didn't mess it up, but it seemed to bubble fine for me.

Bonnie

 

[Rob Top]

Could it me that I am useing too much sand. I used a pinch which is far for than a few grains. Well I'll try it again

 

[ChrisRD]

If it's aragonite sand it should dissolve in vinegar. I would pour some vinegar in a cup and put a pinch of sand in there and stir it around. The sand reefers are interested that's been sold as Southdown, Old Castle, Yard Right, etc. was/is aragonite sand from the Caribbean - basically the same stuff sold by CaribSea, etc. to aquarists.

If this sand does not completely dissolve in vinegar it's likely a quartz/silica sand (or at least part of it is). Plenty of people have used silica sands in reef aquariums without issue. That said, some experts seem to feel the sharp-edged shapes of these types of sands may not be as "friendly" to soft bodied sand infauna as the rounded (oolithic) particles found in the above mentioned aragonite sands. Personally, I have no idea if there is any truth to this.

Also, the silica type sands would not offer any buffering effect as the aragonite sands might. Personally I haven't noticed any significant buffering effects from aragonite sands in my own tanks and wouldn't be concerned with this, but that's JME...

HTH

 

[Fulinn]

I will re-test it this afternoon, before purchasing any. Although the grains are larger than the "sugar" size I don't feel that is enough of an issue to justify the cost of the Name Brand Aquarium sands. This is just my opinion.

I understand the lack of buffering capacity from the sands, but I believe and please correct me if I'm wrong, this can be tested for and corrected with additives. So if the ph is "off" I can correct for this during my water tests.

Thanks for all the imput, its been very helpful to me in making my search for sand.

Bonnie

 

[ChrisRD]

Some experts like Dr. Ron claim that a deep sandbed has to have very fine particles to function normally, but clearly many folks have been successful with various substrates (and none).

Personally, after having run a system with a 4" deep bed of fine aragonite sand for a couple of years (following Dr. Ron's guidelines) I was not convinced that there was any great benefit over a shallow sandbed (or no sandbed for that matter), but that's JME. The sand eventually ended-up becoming part of the driveway at my new house when I moved the tank. :wink:

You're correct on the buffering issue. Once you have enough calcifying corals/algaes in the system you will need to supplement Ca/Alk regardless of whether you have aragonite sand, silica sand or no sand.