Where can i get Southdown/old castle??

M

MadSkillzMan

New member
Hi guys,

I attended the C-Sea meeting last month with my girlfriend for the first time. Nice place! We will be joining this fine club...and the freshwater one

My backround is mainly fully planted Co2 injected tanks, scaleless fish (eels, sharks etc) and coldwater fish.

But a band mate mentioned to me the other day he has a 10 gal with a clownfish and some live rock, and its TOTALLY neglected!

I mean its sad shape guys, no moving water, hardly lights it, no skimmer, NOTHING!
A good portion of the water has evaporated, but the salinity is at 20 so it can breathe easier

So after he saw my 20 gal jungle, he told me, take the saltwater fish. Now i cant refuse a tank/fish in need, especially when ive always wanted to learn salt..but i could give this fish a real good home

I have a 20 gal tall sitting on my dresser. Yes i know 20 isnt a good starting tank, but there isnt anything i can do about that. I do understand how tough it is getting levels stable in such a small tank, and im up for the challenge. After all, this bozo did it in a 10 for about 5 years. I have a small tank with a spiggut i use to top off everyone in the mornings (all 3 tanks up here)

So, ive got almost everything to set it up, i just need sand. I read MANY places southdown/old castle/Yardright is great, siince its fine particles, can use become "live". Apparently thats what he used. His sand is live. Do you guys know where i could get some? i just spent 2 hours driving around looking for Tropical playsand with 0 luck. I dont feel like putting up the 36$ for a 20lb bag of what looks to be gravel (plus i know the bacteria forms better in SAND not gravel)

We tried Lowes, Home Depot, aquarium adventure, my gf tried a few different home depots by her (maple heights) and im in cleveland.

im just looking for sand to combine with his live sand to get going...just so i can get the little guy and rocks from him..then ill start constructing a protein skimmer

Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to the salty side. I think almost everyone started out in FW before taking the plunge. There is much controversy as to whether the Southdown sand really makes a big difference. I know that lots of ppl will say that silica sand (regular play sand) is not good for a sand bed but I also know lots of people have successfully used it. If you have a good start with his live sand you should just add some play sand (Walmart or home improvement store) and it will all be live sand after a while. It may be difficult to find play sand during the winter months. If you are going to the Xmas party I could bring you about 15- 20 lbs of play sand. I am talking about the stuff that goes in sand boxes and costs $4 for 50 lb bag. You could also try a pool place and ask for filter sand.

Do you already have a reverse osmosis (RO) system or a place to buy your RO water? (most grocery stores have RO water for sale out front for 25 cents/gal but you need to bring your own containers.)
My 29g with a 20g L sump uses around 3 quarts a day. You may get away with a lot less evaporation if you are going to have a cover on your tank. But be sure to use only RO water and not just plain tap water.

Do you have a plan for water movement, filtration and lighting? Are you planning on a fish only with live rock (FOWLR) or reef tank?

It sounds like the fish will be better off with you whatever the conditions but it would be nice to get your equipment all set up before bringing it home.

Since you will have a relatively small tank there is a Prizm protein skimmer that may be enough for you that I saw another C-SEA member list for sale for $20 check out THIS THREAD . for more info. He would probably gladly bring it Friday to help out a newbie. I have found everyone here to be extremely helpful when you need anything.

Also, if you are looking for some diversity in your sand bed try buying a pound of live sand or two from Dan at the Salty Critter. I bought one lb and there was lots of good stuff in it to help things get going. I believe it was $4.50/lb but well worth it.

Keep us posted and let me know if you would like the 15-20 lbs of sand I have laying around here I would be glad to bring it for you ... for free of course. It's my real first opportunity to help someone else out :-)

-- itZme (Kevin)
 
The SKU for Home Depot is 578-819 for Tropical Play Sand, and you may have to special order it (minimum 10 bags).
Canton Road Garden Center in Akron had Yardright last Spring.
I am looking to pick up a bag or 2 myself.
 
I do not already have an RO system. Moneys short,( i gotta pay college tuition in a week or so )

However, i do intened on getting one, i know theyre for the best with our fish.

As for filtration, at the moment, i have a HOB i used to use on my FW tank. Its meant for a 75-125gal tank. Man i never had such clear water hah! but the fish could live w. it just fine. It sprang a leak a few months ago (the Co2 ate away at something) and it was new orleans in my bedroom at 6am!

So i plan on patching that thing, and letting it blast water like crazy UNTIL i get a skiimmer. Now, its my understanding that many just use LR and a skimmer as filtration?

20$ for a skimmer sounds SWEET! probably cost me as much to build one and take even longer...sucks cutting PVC in the cold

Now this guy is giving me a small flourescent fixture. This tank, at first iwll only be FOWLR, based on MONEY.

However, i purchased a jebo odyssea on ebay back in september for about 65$. 2xPC flourescent, 130watts total. IT came w. a 1000k and 1400K actinic w. nightlighting. I swapped those out with a pair of 6500K triphosphor full spectrum bulbs (uve never seen plants grow this fast) and saved the bulbs, had about 2 months of use on em. I plan on getting another one of those hoods, because my intent, is to move to corals at some point, once ive gained experience.

As for friday, me and my gf felt kinda bad about coming to the party after attending only one meeting and not even having the membership yet...though at the same time im really trying to save this poor fish

20$ for a skimmer, i might have to do that. hah more cash gone! i see hes a fellow mac user

thanks for your help so far guys
 
oh btw, i found a vendor on ebay that sells flourescent bulbs for about 13$ a peice, you specify pin style, spectrum, wattage, and length. NOT cheapo bulbs, however shipping takes WAY too long
 
Well itzme, i think id be interested in your 15-20lbs of sand.

Eriksmacks, im pretty positive we will be attending, n bringing some snacks too
 
I got my sand at Canton Road Garden Center as well. He keeps it out back specifically for reefers.

I would not use quartz sand which is what most play ground sand is.

Use the sand from the ocean. Best way to tell if it is the real thing is to take a little from spilled bags and drop a few drops of vinigar on it. Sand from the ocean will fizz and bubble. Sand from a quartz quarry will not fizzle or bubble.

Best part about sand from ocean is that I believe it is Calcium Cabonate which is crushed bits of shells and corals. When this breaks down in your tank it will add calcium to your tank naturally. Quarry sand will not break down which could be a good thing since over time Calcium Carbonate sand will desolve and you will have to add more.

This of course is only my oppinion.
 
I called Canton Rd Garden center maybe a month or so ago, the woman answering the phone said they were out of it and would not be getting any more till spring. However that being said another phone call may not be a bad idea, as some employee's are better informed than others, at least it will confirm the spring arrival. I have gotten yardright sand there on several occasions so I know they do or did carry it.
 
On a seperate note I started my first tank with regular play sand and had no problems what so ever with it, ran it for over a year. The only reason my tank now has Southdown (Yard right) is that I found it when I set up my sump and got more when I moved from the orignal 55 to the current 150. The white color is the most striking difference to regular playsand, I do not think the buffering effect is any more than minimal at best, and generaly only when your PH is screwy. IMHO
 
ah thanks radicaljibr and Newsalt.

regular play sand cant become live can it?

but doesnt regular sand contain (cant think of it) that additive thats toxic to fish?
 
silica but it does not leech out, your glass contains silica and it becomes very live! not to worry about critters it supports them nicely.
 
Any sand can become LS. You just need to jump start it with someone elses LS.

Once you get your tank set up with your new sand in, ask a freind or someone in C-SEA to give you a cup of their sand from a mature tank. Spread it around the top of your sand.

Should be good to go.
 
alright, so you guys are tellin me i could basically just go into HD and get onea those cheapo 1.50$ bags and be alright? Of corse id washt he living heck out of it
 
I disagree. You'll end up with high silicates which means look out for hair algae and cynao.
if it was alright to use 1.50 sand everyone would.

Erik
Just post this in the other forums not the csea one and you get a more educated answer to that then my I disagree but they will be along the those lines.
Another reason is why would everyone be looking for south down sand if any playsand would work? You don't know what else is in the sand that could be harm other than silicates being bad to start with.
Erik
 
Actually I remember a speaker at MACNA saying that regular silica sand is ok. Southdown (calcium carbonate) sand is better because of its potential buffering ability, but it is unlikely that signigicant silicates would leach from regular sand. If it were a problem we would all need to worry about silicates leaching from the glass in our tanks. I'll see if I can find a reference for you.
 
Is it OK to use silica sand? Probably. Many people do so. I also believe that not all ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œsilica ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œ sands will be the same for the reasons described above relating to processing of the sand and the nature of the mineral inclusions present. So the fact that many people successfully use some (or many) types of silica sand does not necessarily imply that all people can use any type of ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œsilicaââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ sand without a problem

Good quote from those articles
 
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