oldcastle silica sand
- Thread starter dfcjr
- Start date
Vincerama2
Active member
It's probably cool to use it. I would suggest a quick rinse though...just in case.
I think the whole "Silica sand is evil" is unfounded. I mean, glass is made of mostly silica, isn't it? And even though diatoms have silica shells (or whatever) I'm sure that having silica sand has not effect on their population.
Silica sand might have sharper edges than aragonite (due to aragonite sand dissolving? I dunno) that's what I heard, but have no evidence. Makes sense though, silica sand is ground up rocks and aragonite sand is ground up dead reef rocks...
I'm sure many people have used it to no ill effect (unless it's truly sharper than aragonite and thus bothers benthic or sand sifting creatures).
V
I think the whole "Silica sand is evil" is unfounded. I mean, glass is made of mostly silica, isn't it? And even though diatoms have silica shells (or whatever) I'm sure that having silica sand has not effect on their population.
Silica sand might have sharper edges than aragonite (due to aragonite sand dissolving? I dunno) that's what I heard, but have no evidence. Makes sense though, silica sand is ground up rocks and aragonite sand is ground up dead reef rocks...
I'm sure many people have used it to no ill effect (unless it's truly sharper than aragonite and thus bothers benthic or sand sifting creatures).
V
mr pink floyd
New member
yea sand will not do any buffering, for the CACO3 i believe it is to be dissolved, the ph would haev to be sooooo low everythign would be dead. it would be an acid tank
bureau13
New member
I wonder if it is more harmful due to its sharpness for acrylic tanks than glass? I can't find aragonite sand here in FL for anything, other than the bagged "live" stuff at about $8,000 per lb. I'm already thinking about a deep sand bed just to hide the scratches down there!
jds
jds
Sand is sand. As already stated the buffering is a moot point.
The main diffrence is the grain. If you want the denitrafication just make sure its sugar sand. I have 100 lbs of play sand from Lowes in my tank and you can see where the worms have been crawling and two or three places pods have set up a little "cave" home up against the glass.
Now if you have sand burrowing largish animals like Gobys or Seastars then you may want the "softer" arag sand.
I think acrylic can be scratched by breathing on it too hard so I would be careful cleaning it regardless of the type of substrate.
The main diffrence is the grain. If you want the denitrafication just make sure its sugar sand. I have 100 lbs of play sand from Lowes in my tank and you can see where the worms have been crawling and two or three places pods have set up a little "cave" home up against the glass.
Now if you have sand burrowing largish animals like Gobys or Seastars then you may want the "softer" arag sand.
I think acrylic can be scratched by breathing on it too hard so I would be careful cleaning it regardless of the type of substrate.
Vincerama2
Active member
Oh, if it's white then there is a high probability that it is the coveted "Southdown" sand. Try this, put a few drops of vinegar on the sand and see if it fizzes. If it does, then it's aragonite sand, not silica sand! (And you are lucky). Oldcastle bought Southdown, I believe, and rebranded the aragonite playsand.
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