All you EVER wanted to know about Southdown
- Thread starter Grumpy Vet
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ladyshark
Premium Member
I just picked up southdown at HD in Indiana, put a little in a nano I want to start up, big blurry sandstorm, and some foaming when I added water--now it has settled after a couple of days, there is still a white foam on the water surface, and a whitish film on top of the sand.
I am nervous about it having some kind of chemical or soap or pesticide or something on it.
Anyone have this issue--is it normal--do I need to do some kind of thorough rinsing or something?
I want to trap a mantis shrimp I have in my main tank and house it in the nano--I know mantis are very sensitive to chemicals, so I am worring about this.
Any help would be appreciated.
THANKS
I am nervous about it having some kind of chemical or soap or pesticide or something on it.
Anyone have this issue--is it normal--do I need to do some kind of thorough rinsing or something?
I want to trap a mantis shrimp I have in my main tank and house it in the nano--I know mantis are very sensitive to chemicals, so I am worring about this.
Any help would be appreciated.
THANKS
ladyshark
Premium Member
I just picked up southdown at HD in Indiana, put a little in a nano I want to start up, big blurry sandstorm, and some foaming when I added water--now it has settled after a couple of days, there is still a white foam on the water surface, and a whitish film on top of the sand.
I am nervous about it having some kind of chemical or soap or pesticide or something on it.
Anyone have this issue--is it normal--do I need to do some kind of thorough rinsing or something?
I want to trap a mantis shrimp I have in my main tank and house it in the nano--I know mantis are very sensitive to chemicals, so I am worring about this.
Any help would be appreciated.
THANKS
I am nervous about it having some kind of chemical or soap or pesticide or something on it.
Anyone have this issue--is it normal--do I need to do some kind of thorough rinsing or something?
I want to trap a mantis shrimp I have in my main tank and house it in the nano--I know mantis are very sensitive to chemicals, so I am worring about this.
Any help would be appreciated.
THANKS
armygreen11
New member
Check out the pic on the top of page 23 in this thread ladyshark. That was my sump after I put in the southdown. Does your nano have an overflow? As long as it does, just swish the surface around, and it'll eventually settle once bacteria starts to grow on the particles. There shouldn't be anything bad in the southdown as long as the bags were sealed. It has to at least be clean enough for little kids to play in.
saltaholic
Premium Member
FWIW, next time put the SD in first and use a new garbage bag that has not been opened and neatly lay this across the bottom of the SB. Put a plate on top, then fill. No sandstorm. 
ladyshark
Premium Member
Daver--I purchased it at the HD in Highland indiana on Indianapolis Blvd--way up north in Lake County--they have several bags in stock......
Armygreen--that is exactly what my tank looked like. I am not worried about it calming down, I know it will soon. I was just worried about it killing my cute little mantis guy I want to trap. So the foam is just a bunch of particulate or something? Did you have a white film on top of the SB too?
Armygreen--that is exactly what my tank looked like. I am not worried about it calming down, I know it will soon. I was just worried about it killing my cute little mantis guy I want to trap. So the foam is just a bunch of particulate or something? Did you have a white film on top of the SB too?
armygreen11
New member
I don't remember a film on top of the sand, but there could have been. I couldn't really see in the tank until I put the live rock in and the sandstorm settled. I wouldn't worry about it.
ronkent
Premium Member
Ive seen alot about the 'milkshake' when starting a new tank with Southdown and a couple of methods to reduce the cloud. i just set my tank up 2 days ago and did it without any cloud whatsoever. I started with using the trashbag on top of the sand trick and started to add the water. As i added the water there were tiny bubbles on the bottom of the bags and they started to float up on me. i figured this was gonna be the beginning of my slight sandstorm so i stopped and thought a minute. I decided i would go to the kitchen cupboard and get some heavy glasses. I needed six glasses( I have a 55 gallon tank and was using 2 trashbags over the sand.). I put one glass in the each corner of the tank and then 2 in the middle where the 2 bags met. I then proceeded to add the water by dumping the water directly into one of the glasses in the middle of tank. this caused aboslutely no stir. after i was done filling my tank i simply removed the glasses and let the little air bubbles under the bags to float the bags midway up where i grabbed em(slowly of course) and removed them from the tank. Walllah!!! No sandstorm at all! Crystal clear. just figured i would share this lil tidbit for others starting with SD and not wanting a milkshake. Now ill be adding my LR tomorrow and stopping at a guys house for a cup of his sand from his established tank
ToUcHoFeLeGaNcE
New member
all i keep seeing is RED X's. Anyone can email me pictures of what the bags i should be looking for? Thanks alot. Ps. To all who worked hard searching for the info, keep up the good work, this hobby needs more people like you's!!!
John
Cre8ruckas@aol.com
John
Cre8ruckas@aol.com
ToUcHoFeLeGaNcE
New member
I just went to a home depot in Moorestown New Jersey and They had it! I took home 250lbs of it! It's was 4.99per 50lb bag. Thanks agian guy's!
SouthDown
SouthDown
You also want to make sure it says NO SILICA. I got the one that says Carribean Play Sand at the Home Depot in Cheltham, PA. After calling 10 stores located around me that was the only one that had it.
And thanks for all the info, if it wasn't for this link, I would have spent $18.99 for 15lbs. of Caribea Sea Sand, instead I paid $2.53 for 50lb. bags of the Tropical Play Sand, saved me a ton of money, especially since I needed a bunch to make my own rocks.
One question I have is why would you want to keep some around, I am a newbie to SW tanks and don't know if you have to replace or add to the sand eventually. If that is the case I'm going to get another bag (they had a skid of it in the Garden dept. only, the lumber had Quick Crete).
Good Luck.
Cindy
SouthDown
You also want to make sure it says NO SILICA. I got the one that says Carribean Play Sand at the Home Depot in Cheltham, PA. After calling 10 stores located around me that was the only one that had it.
And thanks for all the info, if it wasn't for this link, I would have spent $18.99 for 15lbs. of Caribea Sea Sand, instead I paid $2.53 for 50lb. bags of the Tropical Play Sand, saved me a ton of money, especially since I needed a bunch to make my own rocks.
One question I have is why would you want to keep some around, I am a newbie to SW tanks and don't know if you have to replace or add to the sand eventually. If that is the case I'm going to get another bag (they had a skid of it in the Garden dept. only, the lumber had Quick Crete).
Good Luck.
Cindy
Update on Maryland Southdown/Yardright.
I struck out at the Home Depots in Catonsville, Glen Burnie, and Both Annapolis stores. Using the old SKU number of 578-819 doesn't work because they use that number for High Desert Sand interchangeably.
Ace Hardware in Ellicott City, Maryland had maybe 40 bags. SCORE!
I struck out at the Home Depots in Catonsville, Glen Burnie, and Both Annapolis stores. Using the old SKU number of 578-819 doesn't work because they use that number for High Desert Sand interchangeably.
Ace Hardware in Ellicott City, Maryland had maybe 40 bags. SCORE!
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