Group Buy: Sugar Fine Sand

captbunzo

captbunzo

Premium Member
Hey folks. I have been looking for some sand for some tanks. And I have a plan to do a big tank sometime so I'll need a nice pile for that. Well, I have found a guy on Reef Central named Treeman. Treeman seems to be the source in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area for sand. He (legally) collects and sells a white colored aragonite sand that is sugar fine and very light. There are TONS of folks that have bought from him. If folks like, I can do my search again and post some thread references, as well as post some results of PMs from former customers of him.

59590sand.jpg


The sand itself goes for $7 for a 40# bag.

HOWEVER, I am in the process of figuring out the complicated process of shipping. In short, I've gotta find a reasonable way to get this shipped or the final price isn't going to be that great of a deal anyhow.

So, I am working on that.

Now, this Group Buy will be shipped into Dallas. Why you ask? Because I already have a group of folks in the club down there (here) that are interested in a total of 20 bags. And I think we'll have more, maybe twice as many, before this is done.

Here is the thread:
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=25480

Now, if this all works out, I am MORE then happy to bring the stuff up to COMAS folks in the OKC area. I am in Dallas every week for work. And I will be at most COMAS meetings, and at least both the December and January ones.

So let me know. Sign up on the list below if you are interested and for how many bags you think you'd like. Obviously, before anything is final, I'll have to end up with a final price. However, for now, just put down what you think you'd like at a good deal.

SIGNUP HERE
4 - captbunzo

Total: 4 bags
 
Btw - I might have an option for shipping these at a cost of $8.10 / bag. So that'd be a total of about $15 a piece.
 
Paul, have you talked to this guy about where he collects his sand from. I would not want any sand from the beach of Florida's east coast myself. From what i have been told here, the only true calcium based sand here in florida, is down around the keys. The sand in that picture looks like cocoa beach sand. Fort lauderdale is a ways south of there, but it looks like the same stuff to me. All of the east coast beaches i have been to are somewhat nasty IMO. The gulf side from about Tampa south is where the good white sugar sand is. The sand in my tank came from the Tampa area (clearwater beach), and i let it perc in a 5 gallon bucket with a water hose for almost 2 full days before putting it in my tank. It may be a good deal, but i would order 1 bag and check it out before doing a large order. I have whiter sand then that in my yard and just as fine grained.
 
If its beach sand, it may be poluted. That area is very busy on the water. Lots of boats running the coast. The best is dredged from the Bahamas and then imported by barge to the coast. If he gets it from an importer than its fine, but I would find out where it came from before you order.
 
I have pretty thoroughly checked on this source of sand - it is good stuff.

First, I have read through at least a dozen threads from one of those Florida Reef Clubs where folks were asking for sand, people referred them to him, and then there was some discussion of the quality of his stuff. Here are a handful of sample threads.

   http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=959328
   http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=955541
   http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=905366
   http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=873871
   http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=774094

Second, I have exchanged PMs with about a half dozen folks from those threads who commented as to having received sand from him. ALL were very positive. Some gave more details, some less.
bawla47 wrote on 11/16/2006 06:28 PM:
I don't know his source for sand, but it is a sugar sized aragonite.
it also has a lot of various small shells. The best I think for making deep sand beds or RDSBs.
Click to expand...
bckane wrote on 11/16/2006 04:36 AM:
I've bought about several bag of sand from Matt (treeman). For where he gets it, I'm not sure...
Click to expand...
r00onmac wrote on 11/15/2006 04:22 PM:
Really, what you are looking at from a customer's perspective, is very find white/light tan sand. It needs to be rinsed VERY thoroughly and even then will be cloudy for a couple of days, but once it settles its fabulous and doesn't storm up crazy even when I point 500gph at it... It floats and settles again in minutes. It has been described as the perfect DSB sand. I believe that is because the majority is small grain but there are also larger pieces of shell and stuff in it. Every once in a while when siphoning ill uncover some pretty decent sized (1" or so) shell pieces, etc... Which are good for fish that make their homes in the sand because they use these pieces to build.

Overall im very satisfied and especially for the price its the best sand I've seen. When i start a bigger tank, ill be calling treeman for a shipment...
Click to expand...
Rogger Castells wrote on 11/15/2006 02:46 PM:
Paul, the sand size is very fine & white in color, I have use it in two of my set ups and it is great, it does need to be washed to eliminate the finer dust, I believe Matt gets the sand from the Bahama's but I am not sure.
Click to expand...
I think I have a couple more PMs from folks. But I'm tired of pasting them in. In short, lots of folks are using this stuff and love it.

Third, I have gotten some specific details from Treeman himself as to what this sand is all about.
Treeman wrote on 11/15/2006 03:49 PM:
Yes, this is the sugar size, very small spherical grains of sand from Cat Cay in the Bahamas. I have done the vinegar test myself. It is raw sand, it has shells etc mixed in with it. I really don't think I need to send you some of the sand but if you want I will. You can pm a number of people on the boards that have gotten it and they will tell you it is the true aragonite.
Click to expand...
Fourth, Treeman runs an aquaculturing business down in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area. This is the same sand he uses for that business. There are some threads folks may have stumbled across about his greenhouse build/rebuild.

   http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=441022

In conclusion, I am relatively satisfied that this is not some idiot dredging polluted sand off some beach. From the reading I have done, this is not only good sand, but legal, and if I can get it shipped at a good price, then it'll be a heck of a deal.

So sign up, or not.... Your choice.
 
If he's importing the sand then buy away lol. The picture there looked like cocoa beach sand, so i thought he was just a local selling sand from Florida. The East coast of Florida is a pretty heavy traffic and poluted beach. Lots of shipping ports. The further north you go, the dirtier it gets. You have to get south of Miami before you hit clean clear waters. The water at Daytona would kill a domino damsel lol. Probably not since i watch them pull stingrays and all sorts of stuff from the pier all the time, but it sure ain't clear blue water by any stretch. From above the water, you can only see the sand up to about 2 to 3 ft deep on a good day.
 
FYI, folks, I am still working on this. I will be calling the guy in just a little bit to see where things stand.
 
Hey folks, excellent news. The final price for this group buy will be $15 for each 40 pound bag.

Shipping was an absolute BEAST to get figured out. In order to get costs down, I am ordering a nice big pile of the stuff. Consequently, there will be quite a bit extra. Anyone who pays by the end of the December COMAS meeting gets the all-time low price of $15 / bag. However, delay longer then that and the price is going up to $17 / bag. Sorry for the price hike, but I am really jumping out there by ordering as much as I plan to order in order to get a good price on shipping and save YOU money. That's a risk to me as I don't need to be stuck with a big pile of this later. I am doing this as I am pretty certain the stuff will go pretty fast. So please understand the discount folks get for paying sooner.

Anyhow, here are the rules that I will be following to organize this group buy. Please abide by them so that I don't lose my mind. :)
  1. Pay before the end of the December meeting and sand will cost $15 / bag.
  2. Pay after the end of the December meeting and sand will cost $17 / bag.
  3. When sand runs out, priority will go to those that pay first.
  4. Sand will be delivered to the next COMAS meeting after payment occurs. If you miss that meeting and someone else needs the sand and pays up and picks up sooner, you get a refund and they get the sand.
  5. Payment should be paypalled to captbunzo@gmail.com. Links are included below for convenience of payment. Those links will calculate the total properly for the quantity of bags you are ordering.
  6. Inquiries about this Group Buy should occur in this thread. PMs and emails of a non-specifically private nature will likely be ignored (that's part of the not losing my mind bit).
  7. Rudeness, crabiness, etc, regarding shipping delays, etc, will NOT be tolerated. Money will be refunded and someone else can have your sand.[/list=1]Gee, after that list, I sound mean. But I just want to keep things organized, clear, easy, etc. Anyhow, start paying up! And again, pay up now or pay (slightly) more later.

    Links for your convenience --- Pay for Bags of Sand in this Group Buy:
    1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

    Shipment will likely occur next week. Assuming the stuff arrives on schedule, delivery will occur at the December COMAS meeting. If not, then I'll likely be nice and extend the $15 price out until the January meeting.

    [Disclaimer - I am NOT doing this to make money.]
 
SIGNUP HERE
4 - captbunzo [PAID]
2 - eddybabyhd
2 - KDC
1 - tslabaugh [PAID]
6 - Chris4693

Total: 15 bags

Thanks for getting us a good deal on it!

PM sent also!
 
You'd think with all my craziness, I'd have covered it all. Nope! Left out an important detail....

Cash brought to COMAS meetings is a perfectly acceptable form of payment. :)
 
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