Cheap sand bed?????

[luisagos]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15028395#post15028395 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 2thdeekay
Chemical Lime's Dolowhite Pool Grade Dolomite Sand, or just ask for Dolomite Pool Sand. They will know what you're talking about.

Call the Meridian location, as that is where I pick it up.

Thank you.

Finding this stuff in Florida has been very tasking. I went to Home depot and found a bag marked Dolomite sand, I was like stroke for a second till i noticed a bag with a hole in it, it was dark brown, lol.

I am afraid to order anything, without seeing it first hand, because of this.
I thought all Dolomite was suppose to be white?

 

[2thdeekay]

You're welcome. The last bags I purchased from there had a few black granules. Only a few though. The dolomite used for pool sand is nice and white.

 

[Rhodes19]

Holy mackerel!!! I just spent the last 3 hours calling cement/supply companies and pool manufacturers in the area looking for dolomite and/or pool sand, and none of the folks I spoke with had any idea of what I was talking about. Even the pool companies had no idea of what they used for surfacing the pools. A garden center said they had some white dolomite, but when I got there the only thing white was the bag! I did however pick up a 50 lbs bag of pool filter sand. It’s whitish and the grain size seems about right. I’ll try that in a 45 g FO tank that I need to set up this weekend. I’ll post some pictures of it when I can. :eek2:

 

[luisagos]

Well I gave up and brought the sand from Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/330-LBS-PURE-WH...34.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=|301:1|293:1|294:30

I would like to give thanks to all that tried to help.

 

[Rhodes19]

Well, so much for using pool filter sand. It was very fine unlike what the guy at the supply store said it was. It clouded the water for quite a while and when I turned on the filter it sturred it up again. I just finished draining the tank and emptied out the sand. I guess I will have to visit the LFS and bit the $ bullet for the 45. Still have time to find something for the 180 though.

 

[Rhodes19]

This isn't a cheap sand bed but I thought what they were saying about their product was interesting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/30-LBS-PURE-WHI...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1309|301:1|293:1|294:50

 

[2thdeekay]

This isn't a cheap sand bed but I thought what they were saying about their product was interesting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/30-LBS-PURE-WHI...:1|294:50

The photo they posted looks identical to the dolomite sand we've been trying to help folks locate.

Sand collected from a beach is rounded and uniform in size, as sand grains get sorted by size by the ocean. The stuff pictured looks like a crushed dolomite product.

 

[luisagos]

I got the sand for about $1 per pound including shipping.

Thats is not so bad for live sand and shipping 330 lbs of it.

I received 11 email tracking from the US Postal. I would love to see the mail man face, when they load 11 boxes weighing 30 lb each into his truck, lol.

 

[kgross]

When you get the sand, I would like to know if it is really live or not. I have a filling that there live sand is not live at all, and it is crushed sand, as Mohri says, it is not collected as live sand.


If anybody has any good sources to ship 50 pound bags, this place will ship them. Just USPS quotes are pretty expensive.

http://jensaltwaterhaven.com/products/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=186

 

[uncleof6]

Most products marketed as "Live Sand" are simply sand, water, with bacteria culture-- nothing more. LIVE SAND has life in it that can be seen as in worms and such. If wanting a diverse sand bed, it needs to be seeded with "critter kits" (have never used one but in theory it sounds reasonable) real live rock, (not the dead stuff at the LFS) etc. You can prettty much save your money for live sand, and spend it on dry sand, and quality live rock, as the "life" you are paying for will develop naturally not long after the tank has any kind of a bio-load in it. There are exceptions to this "live sand" statement, as with everything else.

Jim

 

[james3370]

tru dat what jim said ^ ....save your $$$ & get the best avail dry sand cheaper, then "seed" it by swapping a cup or 2 of your's w/ a buddy that has an established tank. that coupled w/ live rock (same method) is all that you need

 

[HerdofCrickets]

So in Kansas City we have a lot of limestone, you think if I just called a rock quarrey and bought 500lbs of crushed limestone that'd work just fine?

 

[kgross]

Should work fine crickets, as long as they keep the purity up.

Kim

 

[HerdofCrickets]

Well heck that is awesome news.

Maybe I'll buy like 1500lbs and turn 1000 of it into live sand and sell it for $1/lb like the LFS around here... ha

 

[crsaz]

how about pure calcium carbonate? will calcium carbonate work? I have found a local source for pure calcium carbonate ranging from pool plaster grade to livestock feed suplement. it is derived from marble

 

[kgross]

Yes "pure" calcium carbonate will work,the only question is how pure it is.

Kim

 

[crsaz]

the only question is how pure it is

not sure. but im guessing if it is pure enough to use as a calcium supplement then it is pure enough for a sand bed

 

[uncleof6]

I am not certain, and could be way wrong, but I doubt they are going to dig it out of the ground, put it in a bottle, and sell it as a calcium supplement-- Without some in between steps. If so, it would be way to soluble to be used as a substrate. So IMHUO, Kgross's question has not been addressed...... just $.02 worth, don't take it personal.

Honestly, there are three choices for sand beds: Aragonite, Calcite (dolomite) and silica sand. There are positives and negatives to everything. All that aside, when looking at the availability of a variety of grain sizes (a major consideration for sand beds) silica is the most limited, Calcite (if you can find it cause it is not called "dolomite" as many have found out) has a limited grain size also (that is available anyway), and after all the aggravation, running around, wasting gas, phone bills ad infinitum, Aragonite has the advantage all the way. But you got to pay for it, true enough.

Jim

 

[crsaz]

it is for mixing with cattle and chicken fed. the sand is not the same grade as the calcium supplement but comes from the exact same mine(thus same chemical make up). the other grades are used for pool plaster mixes and there is a lower grade used for voleyball courts

 

[uncleof6]

pool plaster... sounds familiar. sounds like dolomite (calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate blah blah.) IF they have the grain size you want (or need -- depending on how you look at it) its all good. I am just picky about the grain sizes i use.