All you EVER wanted to know about Southdown

Status
Not open for further replies.
Radicaljbr said:
No I did not rinse it. You should never rinse the sand before putting it in. Today it is much better. Again, fish and coral are all fine. Sandstorms are natural in the ocean. My question was if I should remove the sand from the LR. To do so I would have to tear the tank down again or spend a couple of hours using a baster or a powerhead. Guess I am just lazy. Don't really want to, but will have to.

thanks

John
Click to expand...

You SHOULD rinse it before putting it in if it is not live sand. You don't rinse livesand, but SD is not live sand...

I'll also point out that sandstorms are natural in the ocean, but we don't have oceans. We have contained systems, so it makes a huge difference. Your livestock will probably be fine - they are so far anyway. :) I ran into the same problem before with the sand on the rocks - I just used a baster to blow it off the rocks. Or you can probably even just grab the rocks and shake it off. That will probably make your tank a lot cloudier though, and your inhabitants won't like it so much... :)
 
Ya everything is fine in my tank. But, YOU DO NOT WANT TO RINSE the sand.

Read this thread all the way through or even better go to Dr. Ron's expert forum and he will even tell you not to rinse.
 
Don't rinse the sand. Who was it that did a study on the most beneficial partical size breakdown for deep sand beds? GARF? Anyone? Southdown tropical play sand turned out to be almost exactly what the study recommended right out of the bag. That's why it's so popular right now (not to mention the price...)
 
By not rinsing the sand for an old tank you take a good chance on killing animals. New tank setups you can get away w/ it. When we are too lazy w/ this hobby we earn the flak we get from tree huggers. Not rinsing the sand leaves a film on everything that looks like crap. The fine powder will dissolve over several months which helps w/ coralline growth in new systems. In established tanks, it can kill fish. I had this happen in an established tank.
 
I agree that it may not be to great for the fish, but rinsing southdown is a NO-NO.....something they've proven long ago....like 30 pages back.....:D
 
I realize it was mentioned (I read it), but I'll always rinse non-LS anyway to get rid of the ultra-fine dust. If you agree it's not great for the fish, why would you do it? I do admit I have not used SD, and if I ever got my hands on some (unlikely, I've already tried - I'm in CA), I'll probably try not rinsing, but to me, it's unheard of to not rinse sand (except LS) for the sake of the inhabitants (and viewing!). I've seen people with tanks that put sand directly in and everytime a fish or something stirs up the sand even a year later, it's cloudy for another hour; the brisk circulation required for most tanks doesn't help the bacteria settle it either. If SD doesn't react in this way, awesome. But I am skeptical that not rinsing it won't produce major sandstorms if there is any stirring at all. With the fine dust present in the packaged bags of sand, even a hermit crab sifting through it can make a small cloud.
 
I agree with the rinsing of the sand on an established tank. But you'll be losing some of the effectiveness of the sand bed in doing so. It may not be completely natural, but what made a big difference for me when I had my sandstorm was to add a bottle of stress-zyme (canned bacteria). This gets a ton of bacteria in the water column which readily attach themselves to the fine particles floating in the water. Overnight I had an immensly clearer tank. Maybe taking new southdown, putting it in a large container without rinsing, fill with fresh SW, a bottle of this stuff, and a couple of powerheads.... Stir every once in a while to get all the sand coated... instant live sand. Just an idea.
 
I had 14 fish when I did the change and still have all fish, but one. inverts and corals are all fine and I still have the ones that I started with. I used a 4" wide pipe to put it in and minimized the storm. Tank was crystal clear in a day and a half. I did this in 3 parts over 3 months during each water change. More water changes if Nitrates went up. I guess not everyone will have the same luck, but it worked fine for me. I wish I would have known about SD before, because I would have started with it and I would not have had to take the chance.
 
Sounds like it doesn't cloud up as much as other sands - now I really want to try it, Radicaljbr. Interesting how the dust in SD isn't as bad as other types. I wish I had the opportunity here in california to get some - especially because I'm planning on completely new tank setup this summer... :(
 
Scary how this thread has endured......I'm just thrilled it has helped people.....Some of the original post is probably a little outdated - but the majority of the info is still good.....and heaven's knows when people get into the hobby they are directed to find Southdown.......it is the "en vogue" sand.
 
I prefer argonite to southdown...my argonite came with lots of little shells, and rock bits..... Oh BTW my tank has been cloudy for 4 days with very little improvement... im running a whisper 60 HOB power filter with carbon... and tips?
 
Do you have LR in the tank Jumbo? As for the little bits of shells and stuff, I added a bag of small shells from Carib-Sea and it looks tons better. They also have something called puka-puka shells or something. They're bigger. Petsmart has them both.
 
SOUTHDOWN IN MINNESOTA

SOUTHDOWN IN MINNESOTA

Just wanted to let people know I was finally able to get Tropical Play Sand shipped in to a Minnesota Home Depot!!!!!

It took 3 months of determination, and going through 3 different people, but at last it is here!!

The first guy I dealt with at my local Home Depot knew exactly what I wanted and where to transfer it from. After weeks of postponement I was told he did not work there anymore!

I was then directed to a guy in the garden center who was nothing but rude and discouraging. He finally would not return my calls.

After sending two letters to the store manager, I finally was hooked up with someone who took immediate action and I had my 6 bags within days!! WHOO HOO!!

The Home Depot I speak of is in Elk River. The manager's name is John. He informed me just to call if I needed more. I told him I would tell others. He had it transferred in from Wisconsin. Elk River store number is 763-274-0543.
Oh yeah, and I was charged only $6.99 a bag!!
:dance:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
Help with free tank, new to saltwater.
Replies
3
Views
363
SantaMonica
S
T
Back at it after a 13 year hiatus.
Replies
7
Views
216
griss
griss
E
Need some help with two clowns swimming unusually as I’m doing a fish cycle.
2
Replies
24
Views
541
kfisc
kfisc
W
Potential 65G
Replies
17
Views
394
griss
griss
T
75g 4’ stocking
Replies
6
Views
318
Toolfan333
T
Back
Top