Sand, dry or live, whats the difference?

[gmlee]

Oh come on! Unless your buying tons of sand just get the clean live stuff and throw it in. Of all the money we spend on our tanks and time looking after our live stock quit being so damn cheap. If you know someone that has some wet sand then fine but using playsand or other crap u must be kidding.

 

[CHOX]

Cleaning dry sand scares the crap out of me. Years ago I remember trying to rinse dry sand for a freshwater aquarium...the amount of water I must have used was insane and it never seemed to loose its dust. And you have to do it with RO/DI water too, right? The amount of time to rinse that much sand scares the crap out of me.

 

[CStrickland]

Southdown sand was the best playground sand for tanks made by oldcastle. Unfortunately, can't get it anymore I am thinking pressure from company's like caribsea,etc.

Yeah, i don't think they make Southdown anymore. Or you can't buy it anyplace. I think it's probs got something to do with big stores like homedepot and lowes using exclusive contracts with companies that make it. Like, they sell qwuikcrete brand sand, and cement, and gravel, and so on. No room in the market for the little sandman.

I heard that if you put a sample of the sand in a little vinegar, it will fizz if it's the right kind like Southdown was. Something about calcium carbonate will, but Quartz won't?

Cleaning dry sand scares the crap out of me. Years ago I remember trying to rinse dry sand for a freshwater aquarium...the amount of water I must have used was insane and it never seemed to loose its dust. And you have to do it with RO/DI water too, right? The amount of time to rinse that much sand scares the crap out of me.

Some people do all rodi, but most use tap and then rodi for the last one, or treat the last one with chlorine remover like Prime.

Live sand can be dirtier than dry, since you aren't really supposed to rinse all the bacteria off (I mean, you can but it's a waste of $). It usually comes with a little packet of water additive that's meant to weigh the sand down. Dunno what that might be though. So I'm not really sure what "clean live sand" gmlee is feisting about.

 

[Xxero]

Oh come on! Unless your buying tons of sand just get the clean live stuff and throw it in. Of all the money we spend on our tanks and time looking after our live stock quit being so damn cheap. If you know someone that has some wet sand then fine but using playsand or other crap u must be kidding.

I've never understood this argument either:

* The "Live" sand is only a few dollars more.
* It's all I have ever used...never had any die off.
* With the CaribSea brand, there is no rinsing. Just open the bag and pour it in. I just set up a new 20g with it...Opened bag; poured it in; smoothed it out; placed a bowl on top of it and poured my water into the bowl to fill the tank. No cloud - the tank was set up and crystal clear in less than an hour.
* Always a lot of talk about it not being "Live" sand. All I know is whenever I use it, my tank is crawling with copepods by day 2.
* It's convenient....drive to Petco and grab as much as you want. :bigeyes:

 

[CStrickland]

I'm not saying it won't shorten a cycle, in the manner of biospira or dr. Tims. But I don't think the petco live sand claims to deliver pods. I mean, if caribsea has figured out a way to keep copepods alive unrefrigetated in a clear plastic bag for a year (that's the normal sell-by for live sand) then I sure hope they have a patent cause they can put algae barn out of business, and everyone who has been buying pods fresh is a sucka.

 

[Xxero]

Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it shortens the cycle allowing for faster copepod production? All I know is that with my current 40b and now this 20, they were both crawling with the white "bugs" on day 2. I can't really say if that is attributed to the "Live" sand I guess, because I have never used anything but.

 

[gmlee]

Yeah, i don't think they make Southdown anymore. Or you can't buy it anyplace. I think it's probs got something to do with big stores like homedepot and lowes using exclusive contracts with companies that make it. Like, they sell qwuikcrete brand sand, and cement, and gravel, and so on. No room in the market for the little sandman.

I heard that if you put a sample of the sand in a little vinegar, it will fizz if it's the right kind like Southdown was. Something about calcium carbonate will, but Quartz won't?



Some people do all rodi, but most use tap and then rodi for the last one, or treat the last one with chlorine remover like Prime.

Live sand can be dirtier than dry, since you aren't really supposed to rinse all the bacteria off (I mean, you can but it's a waste of $). It usually comes with a little packet of water additive that's meant to weigh the sand down. Dunno what that might be though. So I'm not really sure what "clean live sand" gmlee is feistin


Yeah like any sand it takes time to clear. If you prefer your southdown or whatever then fine. Live sand is my preference since I have a smaller tank. If I knew someone in the hobby I would get a few handfuls of sand.

 

[Cyproz]

I think ill spend a little more and use caribsea live sand. Im thinking the special grade reef blend. Its so hard to find a place that actually says here caribsea blank with pictures next to it.

Might try algae barn too