Play Sand

[haninja]

<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">I have 50lb of Snow White Play Sand from US Silica that I’m considering as part of my new 46g setup. I read a lot of post about the subject including the ‘vinegar test’. Some are saying the sand should ‘fizz’ when put in vinegar, others say to soak a teaspoon of sand in a pint of vinegar and all should be dissolved in a couple of hours.</span>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">My sand did not fizz nor dissolve (at least not completely). Has anyone had experience with this type of sand?</span>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">I also got 40lb of Carib Sea Seafloor Reef Sand (dry) and was thinking about mixing them both to create a DSB. Any opinions?</span>

 

[george]

The silica sand can be used but lacks the buffering capabilities of normal aragonite sand. Personally, I wouldn't use it, but it's not actively detrimental.

 

[glxtrix]

I have the snowwhite sand in my tank and I dont have any issues with it. Yes it does absolutely nothing for your tank as far as buffering goes, but its a cheap alternative if you dont care.

 

[jgoal55]

the other thing I would suggest is to use the play sand and mix it with aragonite as opposed to using aragonite for your entire sand bed.....That way you still get some buffering out of it....

 

[jgoal55]

or live sand....

 

[FutureInterest]

From my understanding at normal saltwater aquarium ph, argonite sand has little to no real buffering capability. It only starts to act as a buffer if the ph gets low... at which point your calcium based rock would be melting too and everything would be dead anyways. Silica is fine, except that in zones where there is low ph, like some deadspots in the sandbed... you're going to get some of the silica dissolving into the water. This will obviously be a huge fuel source for diatoms. If you can keep your ph nice and steady above 8 though, the silicate dissolving thing isn't much of an issue.

Soo... go with argonite if you don't mind spending a lil bit of cash although you can get away with the silica based sand if the occasional diatom bloom doesn't bug yah.

 

[haninja]

<span style="font-family: Arial;">As always good information </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I actually got that 40lb from Sam, was thinking of mixing it with some of the play sand&#8230;</span>

 

[blind1993]

yea u will have lots of alage out breaks and u wont be able to see the tank i did it as a test try on a 5g hex and in a week it was fully covered and also it was in the pump.

 

[cameron]

The price for 40lb bag of aragonite is $27 at Aquabuys. I get trying to save money but is a one time $27 worth the trouble? I see these posts on sand all the time and I have to wonder why people would risk months of pain in the arse troubles for the $15-$20 difference over play sand. If this was a monthly cost, I could see the point but one time?

As for aragonite not helping you until it is too late... this is partially true. Aragonite will very slowly dissolve starting at pHs below 8.1 I believe. If that is your soul source of buffering it won't dissolve fast enough so you are in trouble, but it will help maintain a pH of about 8.2 just not very much at least until you start getting into some REALLY fine particles which is what Aragamight is.

 

[FutureInterest]

Personally, I know all the arguments for and against using silica and aragonite sand. I use silica sand though for the time being and so long as my ph is where it should be, then I have no issues with diatoms. When my ph gets low... which has been the case as of late since my ph monitor died, i get a bloom.

Anyways, I use silica based sand because it doesn't absorb phosphates like its alternative and I think it just looks better. Heck I paid more for it than aragonite . I use the black silica sand, and I love the contrast it provides.

 

[cameron]

You decided you like the other for a visual reason mostly and thought the potential issue was worth it. That is a different reason IMO and one I can't fault. I just think it is odd for people trying to save money to go that route. If your goal is to save money, this seems like a poor place to skimp.

 

[haninja]

<span style="font-family: Arial;">Since I started this thread I&#8217;ll try to close it: my original intention was to use play sand for the visual affect and not to save $10. I really like the looks of it.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">After reading all the comments I eventually decided to go with the aragonite from Aquabuys. It is definitely coarser and doesn&#8217;t look as good, but having a diatom battle right now in my 20g, I do not wish to do that again in my new tank.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Thanks all for the good information. </span>

 

[blind1993]

np it is one of the most asked question.