tropical sand

nataz

New member
I remember reading about a sand u can use in aquariums that local stores carry like lowes and home depot, Not sure what kind it was and i cant find the thread on it? Anyone know if it was tropical play sand ? Says for sand boxes and pet boxes, but doesnt mean aquarium use..Anyone know for sure or use this in there tanks?
 
i used that kolor scapre stuff from home depot made by oldcastle.i contacted them about there sand and about silicia they said it may only have a small amount in like 4 cubic yds. i have had no problems yet
 
i use PW gillibrand sand, it is the same sand they import into hawaii for their 'beautiful white beaches'. my dad is rock and sand miner and he mines this stuff about 5 miles from my house. they have an enormous washplant and cleaning area, so its definatly clean. and the silicia is almost untraceable. i of course still washed it myself thoroughly. ive used it in tank for 2 years with no problems.
 
triggers, I'm going to be setting up a 125-150 tank next year and I'm looking for some really really white sand what can you suggest that I can get. I live in alabama and I may need to order it.
 
Its called Southdown Tropical Playsand and comes from the bottom of the carribean. It is kinda like the holy grail of aquarium substrates. It is the same as the stuff they sell in the LFS for $39.99 for a 50lb bag...... except its only about $3.49!! I bought over 200lbs of it just because it was so damned hard to track down. The plant that makes it is in York PA. You should be able to find some at a Home Depot or Lowes in Pittsburgh toward the spring. I lived in the burgh for 5 years..... great place.... miss it often...... especially South Oakland and Uncle Jimmy's.
 
They still sell Southdown? I thought the company went under and was bought by another company, but they never got going? I haven't seen it for a few years. I think I still have a bag somewhere.
 
southdown has beeen gone for some time just a couple places over the last 2 yrs had some left.i seriously doubt you will find any true southdown.old castle is the maker i beleive the rewason that stopped is because they can't take sand from the caribien any more epa or a reason along those lines.old castle still makes sand.
 
Well.... like i said earlier i bought all that i could find at the local Home Depot in York PA. They told me that they get it every year but only in the spring. Says "carribean tropical playsand" right on the bag with the notorious blue bag with the picture of the kid with the sand shovel. Paulpp187 the EPA thing definitely sounds possible..... oh well. Im glad i bought as much as i did when i found it (that was in November 2005)
 
Southdown sand i was told is very very fine. So is it a bad idea to use it in a fwlr only tank? I dont really want to save money that bad if i have to look at a sand storm when ever a fish darts across the tank.
 
I was lucky enough to find a local reefer with 8 left over bags, I got 5 bags of it, blue old castle bags. If you find this stuff, rinse the REALLY good, when you think its good enough, your only half way done. I made the mistake of not rinsing it good enough, my tank was a milkshake for days and still never cleared up at all. I ended up having to run a harden hose from the faucet outside while I was draining the tank with another garden hose, did this for about 5 hours and keeping the sand aggitated/mixing it to get all the dust out, finally the water was clear. looks good, and if I do agitate the sand now in the tank, it just settles back down and no white messy clouds.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=800454

lots of big pics, I have since redone the rock a little, as I was not happy with that.
 
ya no matter how much you rinse it your gonna have a milkshake. i washed like 500lbs forever and dumped it in still really milky. i wa sso frusturated i just dumped the other 10 bags straight in. cleared up in 3 days with the skimmer and constant rinsing of micron bags
 
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