Southdown Sand

[Raggamuffin]

I'm all over that

[Stevej72]

I also found it at two other HD in my area.
Anyone else in NE finding it?

[Hiero]

It seems to be available online at this website: Southdown/ Old Castle #655140-RDC06 .4CUFT White Play Sand - Stone & Sand Product - Soils Conditioners & Landscaping Materials

[CarmieJo]

Hiero, to TR. Great find!

[boirllion_star]

Vinegar is a good test but there is a better more accurate method , in chemistry its called a flame test, you burn a small amount in a loose flame on a busen burner.

But since most households don't have those, use the flame from a stove and look for a red flame, make sure to burn it for a while to get the surface residue off it just in case.

Red means calcium is present, if its silica sand once you burn off any that could be on the outside you would not get any red.

[boirllion_star]

will this sand work, this sand says Safe Play Sand Silica Free Playbox its pure crushed marble play sand 99% silica free. [http://www.woodwardsace.com/safe_play_sand.htm]

[Amphibious]

The benefits of Aragonite sand are that it is calcium based and it has an oval shape to it. The calcium base helps buffer our sea water keeping the pH more stable and calcium levels up. The oval shape makes the aragonite more suitable for the proliferation of the sand bed critters that make our DSBs active. I have a feeling the crushed marble would be more angular and not support the soft skin of our DSB critters. This has been reported by Dr. Ron Shimek in his small book, "Sand Bed Secrets". Here's a link to the book - "Sand Bed Secrets". It's a very informative article.

Dick

[ITeach2Wheels]

I found this forum thread today. I live in a far north Chicago suburb and was under the assumption that only silica play sand is avaliable here. If I find out that WalMart is stocking this sand or able to get it, I will let you all know.

[Reeferchick]

How much sand would make a 3 inch bed in a 125 gal aquarium? AGA with 2 overflows. What would be considered a good/fair price for live sand? Are y'all saying to put down a few inches of play sand underneath the live sand??? What would be a going price for uncured Figi rock? How much rock should I plan for in the 125? I'm not too sure about some of this! Thanks for your help. Rc

[Rostr02]

First off no one is going to tell you to get play sand or live sand on here, at least I hope not. Most of this sand containes silicates which is bad for the tank The sand will become seeded very easily with a small piece of live rock. Do not buy live sand, it will be colonized on its own.

Second if you are looking at rock go here. www.marcorocks.com has great rock and great prices look at his key west rock I love it. Why marco rocks it is dry and not live? Again the rock will soon colonize itself with only a small piece of live rock from the local fish store.

Only 1 will be needed total no need to buy small rocks and spread them over the tank, 1 small rock in the sand bed ill do.

What are the dimensions of your tank length and width, and I would go with a DSB deep sand bed, which is about 6 inches of sand

Bobby

[Amphibious]

Hey Reba, welcome to Talking Reef.

It would take about 207 lbs of Aragonite sand for a 3" sand bed depth. What or who suggested a 3" depth? Normally, a shallow sand bed (SSB) is considered 1 to 2" of sand, 3" is OK but I'm wondering why 3? A deep sand bed (DSB) is 4" minimum up to 6" or more. The difference between a SSB and a DSB is a SSB will take care of conversion of Ammonia and Nitrite but not Nitrate. A DSB will convert the Ammonia and Nitrite, and in a short period of time to mature, will convert Nitrate to Nitrogen gas the last element in the cycle. So, depending on what you know and want to accomplish with your tank, a DSB might be a better choice. You do not need to buy live sand (LS) and should NOT buy pre-bagged LS at you local fish store (LFS). It's way too expensive and doubtful the bacteria is actually alive sitting on a shelf for months. Be sure and get Aragonite sand. Go to Marco Rocks from the link above and get your Aragonite sand from them. Also, check out their rock. Mark has a great selection and resonable prices.

You will need between 1 1/2 lbs and 2 lbs per gallon of tank size, in your case from 190 lbs to 250 lbs. Drop back a bit to include a few pieces of LR from your LFS or even on line. It will not take long for all your rock and sand to become live.

Bring ALL your questions to us BEFORE you buy anything from a LFS. They are notorious for misinformation.

Dick

[CarmieJo]

Hi Reba and to TR!

[Reeferchick]

Thank you so much for the many responses and welcomes!!! I appreciate the time and energy taken to address and answer my questions.

Maybe I should back up a bit and give y'all a little history on me. About 5 years ago I worked in a LPS (in the reptile section) and always went to the fish section on my breaks, as I have been involved with freshwater tanks for ... all my life. (My mom has had fish for as long as I can remember...) So I already loved fish. THEN I saw the reef tank...O wow, I was in love! Well to make a long story short, my first "reef" was a 30 gal cube with a pair of Domino Damsels and a Sebae Anemone with about 10-15 lbs live rock. I moved those inhabitants to a 40 long with 2 Emperor 400's and a Magnum 350. Every time we would get in a shipment of live rock, I would buy a few pieces. I continued to be emamored and eventually moved up to a 90 gal RR AGA with a Tidepool 2. It has a 3-5 inch live sand bed (aragonite and CaribSea) and about 80-100 lbs of assorted live rock. Housed within are a pair of ORA False Perculas. (Started out same size til one of them got the sex change mod, and now the female is bout 1.5 bigger than the male.) Also included are a pair of Mandarins (psychedelic, successfully switched over to frozen mysis and Spectrum pellets) A Royal Gramma, A Lawnmower Blenny, 2 Tiny Watchman Gobys, a Wheeler's Goby w/Pistol Shrimp, A Yellow Tang, A Dejardien Sailfin Tang and A Scopas Tang...(I had an uncontrollable outbreak of a beautiful, but very invasive macro-algae, removed handfuls everyday, then it started taking over my corals and overflow so I got the Tangs...They did an excellent job!!! Oh, yeah...and 4 Blue-Green Chromis. As for corals, I love the softies...Several types of Mushrooms, 2 Leather Toadstools, 2 Frogspawns...one of which just dropped its' head...don't know why) a snake coral, A wide assortment of Kenya tree, button polyps, Zoos and Xenia. And don't let me forget about 9 million Bristleworms!!! I got 2 tiny cleaner shrimp, which promptly disappeared, so in about 6 months, I got 2 more, this time a medium large size...they did much better, staying out in the open and one day I realized that there were 4 cleaners in there...I guess the big ones gave the smaller ones confidence to come out...so I now have 4 cleaner shrimp, and they clean the fish, too!!!

I had the opportunity to buy a brand new AGA 125 complete with overflow kits, and glass tops. It has been sitting, covered in my carport for over a year while I have some medical complications occupying my time and energy. I have recovered my desire to play aquariums one more time, so I am now interested in setting this 125 up, which will be in the near future or at least until I can get a sump (75 gal glass tank) configured and built and a stand designed and built... I will then transfer all of the "stuff" from the 90 into the 125.

SO, Dick ... to answer your question, "What or who suggested a 3" depth? Normally, a shallow sand bed (SSB) is considered 1 to 2" of sand, 3" is OK but I'm wondering why 3?" WELL, I figure that if I use the existing sand from the 90, I would need about 3 more inches to built a DSB in the 125... Same thing with the rock...I have amassed collection of small, medium and large rocks that will go in as well but figured I would need more. Just a WAG on my part, but would love to know your thoughts on it. I went to the Marco rock and sand site y'all suggested, and was impressed. Do you know if the sand they ship is wet or dry? does it come in bags or boxes? Save a little on shipping if it's dry, huh? Like I said the sand and rock is a little down the road...first the sump and stand. Thanks for all y'all's feedback, I enjoy reading all the great stuff!! Peace, Rc

[AZDesertRat]

330 lbs of Southdown gave me a 5-6" DSB in a 60"x18"x23" high 100 gallon LeeMar reef ready tank. I don't think you will find Southdown or any of its variants today. I was lucky enough to get in on a group buy 7 years ago and bought 500 lbs of it myself but it started disappearing soon after that. We had to commit to a full semi truck load to get it delivered to Phoenix and we bought all but 1.5 pallets in the first two weeks it was so popular.

[Amphibious]

Southdown and Yardright both bagged various sands. Both had Aragonite sand. CaribSea sells Aragonite. The sand sold by Marco Rocks is Aragonite sand. Aragonite sand is still coming into FL somewhere near Miami. Marc has the source and is not revealing it. His sand is dry, bagged and boxed in US Postal Priority Mail boxes at 40 pounds per box. Marco Rocks is the best source for Aragonite sand at the moment. Their price can't be beat.

[CarmieJo]

+1 on MarcoRocks. Here is a picture of the gigantic rock sculpture they have here at MACNA.



That is their sand on the bottom too.

[Rostr02]

That's awesome Carmie thanks for the pic.