Cheapest place to get sand

[Martini5788]

Picked up a 40 breeder from petco yesterday and I'm looking for dry sand for it. Not messing with live, I would kill it anyways because I will never again not rinse sand. So im looking for an inexpensive, dry, white sand. Any help is appreciated!

 

[sde1500]

The beach :clown:

 

[ExpensiveHobby]

Picked up a 40 breeder from petco yesterday and I'm looking for dry sand for it. Not messing with live, I would kill it anyways because I will never again not rinse sand. So im looking for an inexpensive, dry, white sand. Any help is appreciated!

LoL you have to rinse it with saltwater not freshwater.

 

[Martini5788]

Live sand is also more expensive. And from all the times I've used "live" sand, it made no difference. It's all dead anyways. No point to use it.

 

[ericarenee]

Check on Amazon... Open box and used deals....
i have bought salt and sand from there. Its usually nothing more then discounted because the box as super damaged..

 

[Xxero]

Here's a link to some pretty inexpensive stuff, but it's still only dollars less than the Live sand. With "Live" sand, it's the bacteria that you're after (not dead), and it is very beneficial to a new tank set-up. But for someone with existing tanks, it's just as easy to buy dry sand and toss in a couple of cups from one of your other tanks to seed it.

Home Depot/Lowes sand/Playsand contain harmful silicates.....Unless it's some kind of a deal going on, I don't think you'll get much cheaper than this:

http://www.thatpetplace.com/meridian-oolitic-aragonite-substrate-19lb

 

[Martini5788]

Here's a link to some pretty inexpensive stuff, but it's still only dollars less than the Live sand. With "Live" sand, it's the bacteria that you're after (not dead), and it is very beneficial to a new tank set-up. But for someone with existing tanks, it's just as easy to buy dry sand and toss in a couple of cups from one of your other tanks to seed it.



Home Depot/Lowes sand/Playsand contain harmful silicates.....Unless it's some kind of a deal going on, I don't think you'll get much cheaper than this:



http://www.thatpetplace.com/meridian-oolitic-aragonite-substrate-19lb

I do have other tanks. I will probably be stuck with using live sand because I can hardly find a place that sells dry sand for a better price. I just get so sick of the dust. Even when I rinse it. It's never ending with the live sands.

 

[Xxero]

And I just noticed that even the link I gave says they're out of stock lol...sorry. :bigeyes:

 

[jd371]

The beach :clown:

I've been lurking on this forum for a few days now learning as much as I can. I'm about to start my first SW tank. I live 20 minutes from the South Shore of Long Island...can you use beach sand if it was rinsed thoroughly a couple of times and then let dry? Just curious.

 

[Martini5788]

I've been lurking on this forum for a few days now learning as much as I can. I'm about to start my first SW tank. I live 20 minutes from the South Shore of Long Island...can you use beach sand if it was rinsed thoroughly a couple of times and then let dry? Just curious.

I would absolutely not do this. Too much pollution. In a closed system like an aquarium, the toxic levels would be fatal to inhabitants

 

[Gumpy]

Last time I bought sand I got it from Pentair Aquatic Eco-Systems. I thought their prices were pretty good.
http://search.pentairaes.com/search#w=caribsea

 

[jd371]

I would absolutely not do this. Too much pollution. In a closed system like an aquarium, the toxic levels would be fatal to inhabitants

That's what I thought, I wasn't planning on doing it....just thought I'd ask.

 

[lance1337]

I used 400lbs of Lowes premium play sand in my 265. I didn't rinse it and it only added 2 Tds to a 296 water volume. I run dual waterfall algae turf scrubbers in the sump. No protein Skimmer or fancy equipment. Everything is great.

 

[acsamples79]

i have used the quikrete playsand in all my tanks with no issues for a long time. so have some of my friends, as well as alot of people on the forum. $3.50 for 50lbs at homedepot

 

[Xxero]

You can use the playsand from Home Depot/Lowes, but it is silicate based. Diatoms feed on silica. The Quikrete playsand also contains trace amounts of metal - specifically iron. From what I understand, it's one of those crap-shoot scenarios. Aragonite is calcium carbonate based and can act as a ph buffer as it dissolves. Silicate cannot.

 

[anthonys51]

why dont you go here. get your live rock and sand all in one
http://www.tbsaltwater.com

 

[Martini5788]

I already have liverock. I have about 300 lbs of it in total that is being split up into 3 tanks, two 40 gallon tanks and a 210. So I just need the sand

 

[booyaa138]

http://www.petsmart.com/fish/decor-...-catid-300014?var_id=36-16742&_t=pfm=category

 

[nuxx]

Just got two 40 lb bags of CaribSea special grade reef sand from Petsmart online for $64.93 shipped including tax a few days ago for our new frag tank

 

[CStrickland]

Petco has 10# bags on online sale for $5 plus shipping right now

I used a crazy mix of play sand, natural sand and aragonite and nothing terrible happened yet. But I doubt play sand is much cheaper than on sale dry aragonite when you're only buying enough for a 40