YardRight Tropical Playsand for DSB...is there any in Maine?

[WhiteCloud]

I am going to convert my 90 Gallon freshwater into a Saltwater tanking in the near future. I am planning for a 6 inch Deep Sand Bed with fine sand.

A 90 gallon tank is going to take about 300lbs of sand to get a DSB that size. Pricing out out the CaribSea Argaramax...looks like that is going to cost me $250. Was hoping to find some of these $5 for 50lbs ($30 dollars total) bags of YardRight Tropical Playsand somewhere in Maine. This stuff is the old Southdown/Old Castle sand the comes out of the same quarry as the CaribSea products. Some Home Depots have them, mine does not. A savings like that will help me push my Live Rock budget more towards the 2lbs/gallon.

Was just wondering if anyone has seen any, knows where I can get some, or can keep their eyes out for me if they happen to be around some Hardware Superstores.

Thanks!

Steve

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Before you spend that much on sand, read the research by Randy Holmes-Farley in the Reef Chemistry Forum here on RC. It's at the bottom of a stickied thread with helpful links under "silicates" in the thread itself.

In it he posits that while there is some silicate dissoultion, it isn't nearly as bad as we all thought at one time, and also addresses diatom growth and the use of sponges for export of what silicate dissoultion there is.

JMHO.


Laurie

 

[cabin]

The HOme Depot in Waterville has the aragonite play sand, I bought a bunch of bags for my new tank last weekend. It is in the yard and garden section. The price was 3.99 per .4 cu ft bag. The brand is Kolarscape, distributed by Oldcastle Retail. It carries the usual warnings about "trace amounts of silica" which is typical of aragonite sand. It is pure white.

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Sweetness! That's the best way to go, if you can find it.

I looked all around Bangor, and our Walmarts and HomeDepots didn't have it. Would have been awesome to find pink (Yeah, I know, such a girly girl thing to do, but hey, one must be true to one's inner chickness)....


Laurie

 

[Racing1]

I also purchased it at home depot in waterville this week. they just got a couple pallets of the white in. It looks great in the tank. I am setting up a 29g for my son. He likes my 75 and I told him if he learns to take care of this one then maybe we will upgrade him in the future. He is only 6 years old so we will see how it goes...

 

[Driftwood]

I found it at the Augusta HD about a month and a half ago. It was the same Kolarscape stuff and was nice and white.

Dave

 

[WhiteCloud]

In the Yard and Garden section! I had been looking in the Concrete Sections...as that is where I have seen Playsand before.

I have seen some posts that the Kolorscape product was Silica based...is it really Argonite?? I took a little sample from an open bag (with permission) in Auburn, and did the Vinegar test...and it only fizzled a little bit...which made me worry. Is everyone using this sand without any problems?? Is it similar in size to the Argamax Sugar Sized sand?? And does it work good for DSB?? It would save me $150 if this stuff would work!!

Thanks for all the encouraging news!! I hope no one has had any problems with this sand!

Thanks!

Steve

 

[spotfin]

I wonder too if the Kolorscape is aragonite. It doesn't look it to me. But maybe it was the pink color that threw me off...
Last time I saw the true aragonite playsand was a few years ago.

 

[jessiesgrrl]

here's the article I was talking about:

http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/feature.htm

I am trying out the silicate play sand in my tank at the moment. I don't like DSB (oxygen debt, gas formation concerns) as much as regular SB, so there isn't as much sand in there as some would like. I didn't really care about the PH/calcium benefits of argonite sand because I dose with Kalkwasser. The Kalk seems to even that out, and I am less worried about too high calium levels because the sand isn't argonite.

I have seen some increased green algae growth, but no brown really. Not sure if that is from my UV, or just because the tank seems to be replicating his results. I do have sponges in the tank, though, that are growing like crazy where before with argonite sand (oolite) they seemed a bit stilted. Also, my tank has way more LR because I like to use it as a primary biological filter versus the sandbed as primary and not so much LR.

Tank params thus far have been much better than I expected, even to the point that I got coralline within a week of being set up. Granted, some of the LR already had it on it, but was expecting that to bleach out for a few months, not grow.

As it is something I have never done before, I wouldn't tell anyone that my way is the 'right' way, but I can say that thus far I am totally happy with it. My blenny is too- he is so fat from eating the green algae growth on the tank walls that he looks like he is going to pop or give birth. And the flame angel (huge sized) is turning down the lettuce clips in favor of eating the same algae as the blenny.

The more I watch it, I am reminded of the same set up of the bare bottom guys with the massive amounts of LR, along with some of the sb benefits and extra green algae growth. Not a bad deal, imo.


Laurie

 

[cabin]

The fact that the Kolarscape sand only fizzed slowly in vinegar is fine--aragonite is not very reactive in vinegar. It certainly looks like the aragonite sand that I used for my first tank, sugar fine, very white, nice sand. I'm not at all worried about using it for my DSB.

 

[WhiteCloud]

Ahhh.....Decisions....Decisions....

Still don't know which way to go...

Argramax: $22 x 7 = $154
Kolorscape: $4 x 7 = $35

Argaramax: 100% Argonite
Kolorscape: Assuming mostly/some Argonite
(do not dose with Kalk...thus Buffering important)

Argaramax: In Current tank....No algae
Kolorscape: Could have more algae due to Silica

Not having to redo and deep sand bed: Priceless

 

[Driftwood]

I agonized over this same decision myself. In the end I went for the play sand and it is fine so far. The Kolorscape is calcium based. The silica warning is meant to scare us away.

If you have the extra money then get the Caribsea sand. No worries to keep you up at night. Of course if you're not the worring type then the play sand will save you some cash.

Good luck with the decision, I know how much it sucks!

 

[jessiesgrrl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7993850#post7993850 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WhiteCloud
Ahhh.....Decisions....Decisions....

Still don't know which way to go...

Argramax: $22 x 7 = $154
Kolorscape: $4 x 7 = $35

Argaramax: 100% Argonite
Kolorscape: Assuming mostly/some Argonite
(do not dose with Kalk...thus Buffering important)

Argaramax: In Current tank....No algae
Kolorscape: Could have more algae due to Silica

Not having to redo and deep sand bed: Priceless

ROTFL

Hope it goes well!

$22 a bag isn't a bad price, imo... up here the going price is about $32 per bag depending on where you go, can be higher. Pointless to drive too far south to get it for me0 the gas replaces the savings.

Laurie

 

[natybug]

Just an additional thought:
Why not go with 5-6 bags of Kolarscape and 1-2 bags of Aragamax on top? Still a significant savings and you'll probably sleep just fine at night.

 

[WhiteCloud]

Thanks everyone for your help!


I ended up NOT getting the Kolorscape. I ended up get 200lbs of Agaramax. I currently have 100lbs in my 40 gallon tank that will end up in the 90 gallon tank...so it ended up not costing as much as it was going to.

I will keep everyone updated on my progress on converting my 90 Gallon FW Planted to a 90 Reef. First job....find some people that want a few freshwater fish!

Steve

 

[cabin]

Just one caution--if you have ever medicated directly into that 90 gallon FW tank, you probably shouldn't use the sand in your reef. I can't imagine you would have medicated so large a tank, but it never hurts to mention it....

 

[Driftwood]

Copper based ick medications can also be absorbed by the silicone seams... I have read about people having problems with their reef because of copper leaching out of the silicone. It sounds suspect to me but you can never be too careful.

Good luck with the new setup!

 

[WhiteCloud]

Nope...I never added copper to the tank....always knowing that it would someday be a Reef tank. Looking forward to it!

Steve

 

[spotfin]

Good luck with your new tank!

 

[jessiesgrrl]

/agree... copper, malachite green, etc... pretty much almost all of the freshwater meds, copper being the worst. It'll also hang out in rock, etc...

One of the concerns of feeding freshwater live feeders (apart from the wrong nutritional content of the fish fresh vs salt) is also introducing freeshwater disease organisms themselves to the reef tank.

Keep an eye out, and as J. said, Good luck!


Laurie