sand questions?

[mitlik1]

I bought some live sand on line and add it to some crushed coral agraggate from the LFS to my 30 gallon tank about 3 inches deep. I am ready to add substrate to my 75 gallon. Can I use the play sand at Home Depot ok? I have heard people say it is ok to use as long as they seed it from an established aquarium. Is this true and if so, what brand is best?

 

[scrmbld33]

yes you can use the sand at home depot called south down heres a link all about it
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26193&highlight=southdown

 

[mitlik1]

I couldn't finsh that south down sand at home depot. All I saw was "decorative landscape premium playsand". Is this sand ok for the reef tank?

 

[Deweys Dad]

To my knowledge you can only use the South Down brand.

 

[brwn_id_girl]

Is the play sand just a plow to save money or is it the best route to take. I've ordered agralive and still am confused on wether or not to even use it. I'm sure it is safe because its being sold as a safe saltwater product but what is the most benifical to use. Will I get get the same results whether I use one or the other

 

[scottfarcuz]

I have used quickrete silica play sand in several tanks with no problems. According to some there are risks involved. It a decision each needs to make. I decided to try, and it has worked well. I figured if silica levels went out of sight, and diatoms took over I could always siphon it out later.

I've found the biggest problem for me was keeping it from blowing around. The sand is very fine which according to DSB experts like Dr.Ron the fine grain sand is best. He did a study on sand beds, and claimed the one tank in the study with the finest silica sand supported the most life.

 

[Amador]

I also used the Quikcrete. It's very white and very fine, which is a mixed bag. Yes, it's good for DSB but WOW does it blow around when first added. Once you get some bacteria happening it's not so bad, but when I first added it, it was crazy cloudy. Loving it now though!

 

[ericbye]

if you dont want the cloud you can put it in a bucket and run a hose at it until its clear, that gets rid of all the dusty sand that you dont want, you will lose some of what you paid for but in the end i hear its worth it. Is 20lbs of live sand enough to seed whatever else is needed for a 50 gallon tank?

 

[scottfarcuz]

I've seeded them with as little as 1lb of good live sand from a well established tank.

Last time I used quickrete I set the bags in the dry tank and cut them open. Leveled out the sand then filled it with SW using a 3gph aqualifter. I then added a few small pieces good live rock, and the live sand to get some bacteria going and didn't add much flow for the first week. Once bacteria coats the sand it wont blow around as much.

I wanted to keep the finest particles that would be rinsed away.

 

[ericbye]

aquarlifter?

 

[scottfarcuz]

Never bought from this site. It was the first result on google.

http://www.aquatichouse.com/Pumps_files/aqualifter.asp

I use them for top off pumps also. Hard to beat a $10 pump. I've been running kalk through one for over a year now with no problems.

If you could get the salt water holding tank higher than the tank you could siphon it into the tank with some airline. Some people will use a larger pump to transfer into the tank and put the hose in a cup or on a dinner plater to keep from dsturbing the tank anymore than necessary also..

 

[killingseed]

ya but are you talking about "Quikrete Premium Play Sand "
#1113

link?
http://www.quikrete.com/catalog/PlaySand.html

 

[scottfarcuz]

I think they have since changed the bag. Yes it was quickrete play sand

 

[adnup]

I bought this from Lowes and was going to use it but I didn't like the color. It didn't look as white as I would have liked. I just put a scoop in my new 55 and I think it looks great! Just as white as the live sand.
The mound inside the yellow line is the paver sand. And outside is live sand. Its a bit more coarse than playsand but you could mix the 2.

 

[kraze3]

Kolorscape does make a fine white play sand. Its in a blue and clear bag, I found it at HD and walmart. it is packaged by old castle and it has been used without problems