All you EVER wanted to know about Southdown

[GreenEyedLady]

HD in Waldorf, MD has it for $4.99 for a 50# bag it is in the garden section
Now if you drive down to La Plata to the Wal-Mart they have the right Garden Basics by Old Castle 50# for $2.49 a bag and it is sitting right out front there was a half pallet left when I was there tonight.

 

[prugs]

Southdown in Milwaukee

Southdown in Milwaukee

Scored!!!
Found some Southdown in Milwaukee.
Home Depot on S27th street.

 

[reef hobbiest]

all you ever wanted to know about southbound

all you ever wanted to know about southbound

I just saw bags play sand by garden basics in a orange bag with green border labeled packaged by old castle stone products.

Is this as good as southdown? Would like to know before I attemp to put it in my refugium.

 

[Casino]

It should be. Give it the vinegar test. If it fizzles it good.

 

[reef hobbiest]

Casino,

Thanks I will give it a try.

 

[mistybellis]

Just passing on the information that my LFS guy told me. There are several pallets of southdown in Lexington, KY at the Home Depot (close to Turfland Mall). I haven't seen this with my own eyes, but I trust my source. I have even been told that it is on sale for $1.99 a bag because they are afraid they won't be able to get rid of it.

So go for it all of you KY reefers looking for southdown!!! :wildone:

 

[yimmey]

The only Home depots that must sell southdown in the northeast are the ones on the coast I am in upstate NY .I must have called 50 home depots and they never even heard of southdown playsand.

 

[EnzoRocks]

More Southdown info

More Southdown info

I just purchased aragonite sand from the importer today (the ones who sell to Southdown...it turns out that coal power plants use aragonite to reduce emissions in the burning process. Call your local coal burning power plant to see if they use aragonite to reduce emissions and maybe they'll sell it to you.

 

[afishybusiness]

Good call mistybellis!!!!!!!

Good call mistybellis!!!!!!!

Please kiss your "source" on the lips for me! I'm in Louisville and don't mind the scenic drive. Many thanks!

 

[afss]

There is supposedly a sand available in my area that is calcium based. It is supposed to be crushed calcite.
I am wondering if there would be much of a chemical difference between calite and aragonite. I figure theres a difference, just not sure if it would make a difference in the tank.

Thanks

Scott

 

[afss]

double post.. sorry

 

[Grumpy Vet]

Southdown in northern VA, DC or MD area - there still seems to be a fair amount around in the area.....

Whenever I go into a Home Depot I check...and there is some in Columbia, Catonsville, Capitol Heights and Bel Air w/in this week.

I wish all a successful Southdown Hunt.

 

[firemouth4416]

Southdown sand in chicagoland

Southdown sand in chicagoland

Wow after reading all this I cant believe that I got a pallet. I must have put in 30 hours total researching and calling to get it but I finally did.
Heres the story that I found in various lacations on the web

The sand is mined in the Bahamas by Marcona Ocean Industries. They sell it for $20 a ton as basic sand. Dont tell them its for an aquarium or they wont sell it. Why? They sell the sand to the aquarium industry and they are the golden goose for them. Joe blow with tweny bucks aint't going make them much money.
The people who bag the sand are Oldcastle. They bought Southdown a year or two ago. They are the same sand. Just make sure the label says "tropical play sand" "steralized" "carribean" on the bag. As a last resort put some vinegar on it only arragonite calcium foams Dont bother calling Oldcastle they dont deal with consumers and only want to sell real large quantities. I had no success this way but if you have a sand or agragate dealer that gets stuff from Oldcastle you might be able to get a pallet "top loaded" with another shipment. Just dont mention aquariums and Yardright is just as good, its just the name used to sell the sand through Lowes for them. Lowes wont sell the same thing as Depo.

Anyway I have a pallet of Southdown for sale in Chicagoland for pick up. Call 6308808176 and ask for the sand. I am selling it for 17.50 a bag.

I got it at Depo but had to buy the whole pallet. I had to go to 5 Depos and most tryed to sell me the wrong stuff. It felt like winning in Vegas when I saw the Southdown label on the bag. I am not trying to make a killing I just want to make it worth the pain and suffering

SOUTHDOWN RULES

 

[crgeltn]

Called Oldcastle on Friday. The new bags will NOT have the name Southdown anywhere on them. The ones being shipped out look like this for now but will be changed in the future. It is available at just about every HD in the Philly area now! I will post a picture of the bags I now have but as I said they will be changing the bags completely in the future.

 

[Benthic Explorer]

Thanks Vet

Thanks Vet

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately for us Californians there is no such thing as cheap sand.:mixed:

 

[RJM77]

Has anybody in the Seattle/Puget Sound region had any luck finding aragonite sand? I've looked everywhere and can't find any!

 

[Handyman]

Very nice post thanks a little redundant and no mention of particle size.

 

[firemouth4416]

Heres a nice article about particle size:
www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen23.html
On the subject of adding Southdown to your tank. I did it the worst possible way. I just poured 300lbs into a new tank. I might as well have poured in 30 gallons of milk. I couldnt see more than an inch. I kept all the pumps going. My skimmer went into overdriver also. It all settled down in 12 hours.
The net result was about a 1/4 inch of fine silt on top of the sand. I ended up basicly hoeing that into the sand over a few days and all is well in the sandbed. The other option that might work as well is to put an inch of live sand on top of the silty layer
I did try to put it in with a 4" tube and pour it in. It worked ok but it is a 2 person job since the sand tended to clog in the tube once it got wet and the tube had to be moved alot. If I were to do it again this is the best way but 300lbs is too much for one person.
Next step LIVE SAND. Does anyone know of any good sources? Also detritovore kits to get to sand going. I can only find a few and they are not cheap.

 

[gutterguppy]

Just got a bunch of the Walmart variety at the Butler PA walmart. 2.49 a bag, and it passes the vinegar test.

 

[firemouth4416]

please send a description and name of this sand. What is the grain size, what is name, size of bag.... and so on Thanks