wanted dead or alive

[supertech99]

I could swear I saw someone on here posting that they had some buckets of sand for sale and now I can't find it. Am I crazy? Was it just wishful thinking?

 

[Angela Short]

I would just go with play sand. Someones old sand will be saturated with junk and I think even if you wash it very well you may still have PO4 issues down the road. I never had a problem with playsand in any of my tanks FWIW.

 

[supertech99]

I was under the impression that play sand had silicate/phosphate issues? how long have you used play sand? does it till help buffer the water?

 

[rcmike]

Nah, I have used regular silica sand for years with no silicate/phosphate problems. Actually I had problems with phosphate when I had aragonite sand because all the crud tends to fall through the larger grains and get trapped in it. It won't buffer the water but from what I understand the aragonite stuff won't either unless the pH drops too low anyway.

 

[supertech99]

good lookin out! Thanks. since I already have about 50lbs of dead live sand in there I guess I am not too worried about buffering anyway, plus I am transfering my nano occupants into the larger tank when its ready so there is another 15lbs of live sand. Thanks for this money saving tip!

 

[NeveSSL]

Please explain to me what dead live sand is? Is it kind of like a dead live monkey? :lol: Just messin'.

Something to keep in mind, though, is that sand that is "live" is "live sand" because it has bacteria in it. Its not any particular kind of sand. So dead live sand is simply sand. Add some water to it, give it a little while and some food, and it will become live sand.

I have also used play sand without any problems whatsoever. I am, however, planning on using some aragonite in my next tank, but only a little bit for aesthetics. In the background will be a remote deep sand bed made with play sand working its magic.

Brandon

 

[Fanof49ASU]

Can we be more specific as to which play sand? Lowes and Home Depot carry this, correct? It's just regular sand?

 

[SRT80]

yea, I seen 50lbs bags of playsand at toys r us awhile back for $5 a bag.

Steve

 

[NeveSSL]

The sand I picked up at Lowes was a local sand. I can't remember the name of it. I do remember it had some red clay in it, so I rinsed the CRAP out of it to get it white and pretty.

Brandon

 

[supertech99]

i have heard i should look for southdown sand but someome on another posting board said they dont make it anymore?

 

[sandalscout]

Southdown aragonite sand hasn't been collected or sold regularly for years.

 

[supertech99]

I got some of the lowes playsand. Had to rinse it forever! I mixed it with the sand I already had in there and it looks good, it has a slight pink tinge that is nice and natural looking. I now have about a 2 1/2 to 3 inch bed in the tank I am looking for 3 to 4 inches but I still have sand from mt 10 gallon nano to transplant as well, and it is actually alive!