Aragonite sand/rock in Jax?? I think so.

Mr James

Mr James

Premium Member
This could be a dead end, but if someone is willing to look into it, you may be the hero of the day. I had been doing some research to find some of the ellusive Southdown tropical Play Sand. Yes, they are out of buisness or whatever. Anyway, the company that mines (or mined, past tense??) the aragonite in the Bahamas is called Marcona Ocean Industries. Marcona sells the rock/sand to Martin Marietta Corp, who has two yards in Jax, among other places. I am checking into the yards in Pensecola and Panama City, does anyone want to take a bottle of vinegar down to the two yards there in Jax and test the sand and then report back here??

Attached is a link to the yard and sales desk. I called and talked to the sales guy in Pensecola and he said no problem with me coming down to see if it is the stuff I need. SAME RULES APPLY AS WITH HOME DEPOT, DON'T TELL THEM IT'S FOR AQUARIUMS!!! I told them about that disease of the lungs (silicosis - exposure to silica sand dust) and said that there is a growing demand for non-silica sand for sand boxes and lanscaping. Express your concern for your childrens' welfare. Works every time!!

Link: http://www.martinmarietta.com/Products/results.asp?stateid=FL&sortby=city
 
Isn't the yard next to the Dames Point Bridge?? There's always a Bahamian ship unloading huge loads of it there....
 
If you are asking me, I don't know. I used to live just south of you in Palm Coast, but moved to the panhandle area.
 
Yah sam, I am still trying to get in there. I know lowes sells a patio sand that comes in a brown bag, I have seen pics of it on RC and it looks better than carribsea however I can not find that link again, It was in one of the Fl club forums. The sand went by the name patio step 2 or something like that.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7163525#post7163525 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PelagicMagic
Yah sam, I am still trying to get in there. I know lowes sells a patio sand that comes in a brown bag, I have seen pics of it on RC and it looks better than carribsea however I can not find that link again, It was in one of the Fl club forums. The sand went by the name patio step 2 or something like that.
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lowes doesn't carry it up here. that thread was in the central florida club forum and its only sold down there.
 
thanks for the info cody. Lowes wont even ship it to a store here if you special order it? Have you seen the stuff? Its very nice.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7165518#post7165518 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PelagicMagic
thanks for the info cody. Lowes wont even ship it to a store here if you special order it? Have you seen the stuff? Its very nice.
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I haven't seen it in person but i did talk to the guy that did. Lowes might ship it, i didn't ask them. The guy that first posted about it that I talked to told me that its a mix of stuff. He said there is olithic sand mixed with sand that is like special reef grade up to full size shells. You would have to sift and clean the sand pretty good before you used it in a tank. Most of the people that had seen it wanted to use it for plugs and in their sump/refuge.

There is a Sand plant on blanding blvd called grandin sand plant. I know for a fact they mine and crush limestone from the base of florida and they sell their sand to contractors. They are located about 25 miles south of Middleburg and you could try calling them. I will see if I can find their phone number, I had it somewhere and lost it.
 
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i think this maybe their place.

Florida Rock Industries Grandin Sand Mine
1396 State Road 100, Melrose, FL 32666
(386) 659-2477
 
Re: Aragonite sand/rock in Jax?? I think so.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7163199#post7163199 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr James
...does anyone want to take a bottle of vinegar down to the two yards there in Jax and test the sand and then report back here??
Click to expand...

So how and what are you checking with the vinegar?
 
Re: Re: Aragonite sand/rock in Jax?? I think so.

Re: Re: Aragonite sand/rock in Jax?? I think so.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7165749#post7165749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by s10willy
So how and what are you checking with the vinegar?
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if you dip aragonite sand in vinegar it disolves. silca doesn't.
 
I was following the Orlando Club thread that you are referring to a couple of months ago when it was first posted. At that time, Lowe's at Regency had the sand that was spoken about in the thread. The bag was an exact match for the bag posted in that thread. I carried a pinch home with me and it fizzed and foamed like crazy in vinegar. I went back the next day to buy some but the more I looked at it, the less I liked it. It was kind of yellow/tan in color and the grain size ranged from powder fine grains to large pebble like pieces. A whole lot of sifting/rinsing would have been necessary for me to end up with the grain size I wanted. The guys that bought it in Orlando also said the color was tan, but that it looked white once in the tank. I have since taken another route with my sand purchase, but I do know that 2 months ago, the Lowe's at Regency had this sand. I think it was called Patio Paver Step 2. Oddly enough, at that time, the Lowe's closest to my house (on Atlantic Blvd) did not have it. They had a similar product from a different manufacutrer that was not aragonite.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7166085#post7166085 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tlflan
I was following the Orlando Club thread that you are referring to a couple of months ago when it was first posted. At that time, Lowe's at Regency had the sand that was spoken about in the thread. The bag was an exact match for the bag posted in that thread. I carried a pinch home with me and it fizzed and foamed like crazy in vinegar. I went back the next day to buy some but the more I looked at it, the less I liked it. It was kind of yellow/tan in color and the grain size ranged from powder fine grains to large pebble like pieces. A whole lot of sifting/rinsing would have been necessary for me to end up with the grain size I wanted. The guys that bought it in Orlando also said the color was tan, but that it looked white once in the tank. I have since taken another route with my sand purchase, but I do know that 2 months ago, the Lowe's at Regency had this sand. I think it was called Patio Paver Step 2. Oddly enough, at that time, the Lowe's closest to my house (on Atlantic Blvd) did not have it. They had a similar product from a different manufacutrer that was not aragonite.
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thats the same i read.
 
I've read a bunch of threads on the elusive "Southdown" but I guess I don't get it. What is the draw to this stuff? The slightest movement close to the bottom of the tank and you have a storm. I personally think the arag alive stuff (whatever it's called), is easier to deal with. They sell that stuff dry too but I can't remember what it's called. Just my opinion of course
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7166246#post7166246 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GoldStripe
I've read a bunch of threads on the elusive "Southdown" but I guess I don't get it. What is the draw to this stuff? The slightest movement close to the bottom of the tank and you have a storm. I personally think the arag alive stuff (whatever it's called), is easier to deal with. They sell that stuff dry too but I can't remember what it's called. Just my opinion of course
Click to expand...

True. But what if you were going to runa bare bottom tank and have a remote sandbed in a refugium?? That's what I plan to do. I may even try an above tank fuge as well as below. I don't plan to put sand in my show tank, just Starboard.
 
Thanks for clearing that up Mr James, that makes sense. I think I'll put some in my fuge as well. I have about 170 lbs of Southdown here at the house. I think I should auction it off to the highest bidder, what do you think? :)

I won't be going BB but almost. I'm going to have a thin layer of sand on top of thick HDPE. By the way mcmaster.com has the best prices for HDPE if you don't have to have "Starboard". I think the only difference is UV blockers are added to Starboard.
 
very interested in the result of the test. I was wondering if we, the hobbyist were to pressure old castle / cemex would the start producing southdown again. There is always a tendency to just throw up our hands and say oh well, that's that. But money is power, and it talks. Anyway, I will follow this thread closely. Does anyone know where in the bahamas old castle use to mine their sand?

rev
 
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