Anyone Use Lowes Play Sand

One issue with the silica sand is that it doesn't help stabilize your PH the way aragonite does, And then there is the diatom problem.
 
I just got done adding Quickrete sand to my estbalished FOWLR tank. With a combonation of siphoning and scooping, I removed half (probably closer to 2/5) of my old crushed coral substrate. I tried adding the sand w/ the pipe method and that didn't go so well. It was slow, hard to control and made almost as much mess as scooping and slowly dumping at the bottom. The cloudiness is quickly subsiding.

Jason
 
Easiest way is to rinse it, stick it in a gallon zip lock bag. Open the bag in the water upside down and pour it out. IT will cloud but will go away in about 30 minutes.
 
One issue with the silica sand is that it doesn't help stabilize your PH the way aragonite does, And then there is the diatom problem.

There is NO diatom problem. Not sure where you get your info from but it is false. Also the buffering in aragonite sand is very minimal and only present in DSB where the ph is so low that it actually breaks it down. Not only that, but silicate sand has an overall more diverse life that is able to grow in it.
 
So far my sand in 1/2 of the tank is doing well. Cloudiness is gone. The sand is starting to get sticky and NO diatoms. :) My GHA is decreasing too...

Jason
 
PM a guy on here named Treeman. He is selling carribean calcium based sand cheap. I think it is $10 for a 40# bag. He is in Ft. Lauderdale i believe. Some friends of mine just did a group buy from him. His sand does pass a vinigar test, and everyone in the group buy was quite pleased with the sand.
 
got a bag of the premium play sand from Lowes this past weekend. Rinsed a cup of it and added to our tank. Looks pretty white, but not like a t-shirt. It is under 10K MH and actinics. It looked tan outside when rinsing. It is real fine and i will be filling our 180 with it in the next few months.

They also had a all purpose play sand (clear bag with yellow labeling) that looked real tan compared to the premium play sand (clear bag with green labeling)
 
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