Looking for sand

[Mrs Smith]

I'm looking for sugar-sized, white, aragonite sand, and can't find what I'm looking for!

I was lucky enough to get my mitts on some Southdown/Yardright, but I have used it all now... I loved the stuff, and it worked very well. It was also much whiter than the Caribsea, and I love the look.

I have plenty of live sand, so I'm really just looking for dry. Any tips would be appreciated. I would prefer not to spend an arm and a leg, but I can't even find what I'm looking for in the shops around town in the Caribsea line.

Thanks!

 

[doxyman]

You could try the Old Castle Kolorscape sand. It's sold at Walmart (I've seen it here in Clermont) and appears to be very close to the old Southdown/Yardright sand. I've read some threads saying it passed the vinegar test and others where it didn't, still alot of people are using it. Personally I have not tried it but it might be worth looking into (especially at about $3 for 50lbs.) Here's a link to a thread that shows a pic.

 

[headjigger]

Whats the vinegar test?

 

[doxyman]

Take a little sand, put it in a cup and add some white vinegar. If it fizzes, the sand is aragonite and if not it's silica based.

 

[Mrs Smith]

I had actually seen the Kolorscape a few days ago... picked up a bag (for $1.50, might as well try it), and it failed the fizz test. There were a few bubbles, but nothing near what I would expect from aragonite. It has the "silica" look, if you will. The Southdown/Yardright is not sparkly at all.

I emailed Yardright today to see about getting their "safe tropical play sand" for my children's sandbox. I didn't mention that these children had fins. I'm itching to get this tank set up, and will go with CaribSea's oolitic sugar-grains if I have to. I just really like the white of the Southdown.

Although it would be interesting to use the Kolorscape colored sand...

 

[Mrs Smith]

FWIW, I'm going to take the top layer of Southdown out of my existing tank and use that to seed the new sandbed - I just don't want to go too deep. The existing sandbed is by no means a DSB (2-3" at most), but having messed with several sandbeds over the years, I don't feel comfortable transferring the deepest parts.

 

[doxyman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7955170#post7955170 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mrs Smith
I had actually seen the Kolorscape a few days ago... picked up a bag (for $1.50, might as well try it), and it failed the fizz test. There were a few bubbles, but nothing near what I would expect from aragonite. It has the "silica" look, if you will. The Southdown/Yardright is not sparkly at all.

Well it was worth a try. It's really strange because a search of "Kolorscape" will bring up people saying it fizzes and others saying it doesn't. I guess different areas of the country get different batches.