Play sand

[jamos5790]

I want to add more sand to my tank and wondered if I could just use play sand to mix with my other sand.

 

[fish scales2]

No! Play sand is silica sand and will create an algae issue

 

[ster]

And it's really ugly in an established tank.

 

[ericmcj31]

I know it's kinda an old subject, but isn't there some "southdown" brand sand that doesn't have silicates?? I am not even sure if it is still around-just remember reading about it somewhere-

 

[ericmcj31]

so I guess you don't know where to get it, then, huh?

 

[ericmcj31]

I got curious and googled it--apparently "true value' hardware stores carry it

 

[FutureInterest]

Any sand that is mined and doesn't come from the ocean will have some silicates in it. That'll get used up by diatoms and eventually bound by sponges. So yah you'll have a bloom with play sand but its typically not a big deal but can take up to a few months to go away .

 

[ericmcj31]

so what you're saying is...if you can stand (mentally) a big initial algae bloom, you should be ok, right?

 

[FutureInterest]

Yah. Keep in mind that the size of the bloom will depend on how much you add to your established tank. A small amount at a time will hardly be noticeable.

Truth be told all sand will excrete a certain amount of silicates. However, sand that is dredged from the ocean has already released all its silicates into the water. Mined sand hasn't had that luxury.

 

[ericmcj31]

well that's nice to know AFTER the fact-lol; I will be SO ready when I setup my next BIG tank-lol

 

[stacy22]

dawgdude;317724 wrote: It looks like some argue that the more quartz the less silica but from what I read it gets used up quickly. I would love to find some south down!

Actually quartz is</em> silica. SiO4. My M.S. in Geology does come in handy occasionally.

 

[stacy22]

What happens on ARC stays on ARC. I will not tell a soul, Charlie.

 

[ericmcj31]

You guys are SOOOO over my head-lol

 

[FutureInterest]

+1 stacy. Any fight club reference gets a +1 .

 

[jamos5790]

Wow didn't think this question would spark this type of responses

 

[stacy22]

James, spend the extra bucks and buy aragonite sand. You'll be glad you did.

 

[grouper therapy]

IamRit;317792 wrote: I used to use HD play sand for my display tank at the beginning of the hobby. I used some ocean in the front of the tank for cosmetic look. Matter of fact, I used the HD rock as well to cut down the cost. Didn't have any problem. Actually, my corals were growing much faster than they do at the present, now that I switch to all ocean sand and rocks. :mad2:

I can see that <u>not</u> all rock and sand in the oceans are are from old corals

 

[drnecropolis]

When I had my other tank up the sand was about 200llbs of playsand and 100lbs of live sand..Diatoms were bad for awhile and went away and all was fine..

 

[smoothie]

As stated above and before. It will cause you problems at first for awhile even seeded with live sand. Easier on you adding things so quickly if you go with aragonite now