sand

[chatfouz]

i wannt to put a dsb in my 40 gal refugium. that i figure would be about 60-80 lbs of sand and or crushed coral. lookin at the aquraium store that would be rather expensive. home depot or some quarry must sell a subsitute for cheaper. i have read that not just any sand will do because some will leach all sorts of this or that. anyone know of what to look for?

[Sushi]

If you're looking for cheap and you don't mind thinking outside the box, I'd go check out Homedepo or Lowes... they've usually got some decent sand that the call "builder grade" or something like that... just make sure to rinse it REALLY well because its usually really dusty. Any sand will work so long has it isn't covered in enamel or paint.

-Kat

Edited September 30, 2007 by Sushi

[SirReal63]

If you want it to function as a DSB the sand does have a role. The sand should be small grained like southdown or oolitic, it should be rounded from exposure to water not sharp like silicate based sand can be. This allows for the fauna in the bed to thrive. Some are particular about grain size and shape. Sharp grained sands can injure the fauna. Small grain size is important as well. I looked for a link I used to have discussing the correct grain size for a DSB but I cannot find it now. Crushed coral will not work. I'll keep looking for that article and post it when I find it. The sand does not have to be aragonite based but the size and shape are critical for it to function as a DSB and denitrification.

[SirReal63]

Here is one lengthy article but at 9 years old it is dated. It is more relevant towards the end of the article.

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/r_shimek_090698.html

[chatfouz]

If you want it to function as a DSB the sand does have a role. The sand should be small grained like southdown or oolitic, it should be rounded from exposure to water not sharp like silicate based sand can be. This allows for the fauna in the bed to thrive. Some are particular about grain size and shape. Sharp grained sands can injure the fauna. Small grain size is important as well. I looked for a link I used to have discussing the correct grain size for a DSB but I cannot find it now. Crushed coral will not work. I'll keep looking for that article and post it when I find it. The sand does not have to be aragonite based but the size and shape are critical for it to function as a DSB and denitrification.

im not really lookin for a deep sand bed functionality. from what i read mantis shrimps need deep beds to burrow. Figured i could find somthing cheap, not worried about the filtration.

[SirReal63]

In that case swimming pool filter sand...cheap and not sharp. :-)

[Wryknow]

Apparently, somne of the folks up in the Dallas club have been buying Pavestone Pulverized Limestone from Home Depot and using that for aquarium sand. It's sold in brown paper bage for like $5 for a 40 lb sack and is intended for use in concrete mixing. Apparently it's just crushed limestone (i.e. aragonite sand) and works just fine in an aquarium as long as it's rinsed off very well before use. I haven't looked for it locally myself but it'd be worth a search IMHO.

[CaptainBob]

im not really lookin for a deep sand bed functionality. from what i read mantis shrimps need deep beds to burrow. Figured i could find somthing cheap, not worried about the filtration.

depends on the species of stomatopod you have, some species will stress out and will likely die without a DSB, but most rockdwelling species couldn't care less if there was sand or not.

[chatfouz]

i looked into the building sand. but i wondered about silicates. i was told by some that if you dont buy sand from a lfs you are buying silicate sand, silicate = diatoms. not that its bad if you have snails?

[chatfouz]

i found lowes carries pulverized granite, that stuff on the walkway around town lake. im lookin up what granite is chemically but if silicate sands are a bad way to go then it is a cheap alternative. although i was told that the silicate sand is an urban myth, silicates are insoluble in water thus how could a silicate sand influence diatom growth? i dont know, im going to talk to my aquatic science professor later today after class. and i have chem later so they should be able to tell me or at least enough information to narrow down an educated guess. also pool stores carry stuff called zeoblast, its just zeolite, really porus stuff that would be great as a sand bed, except its 30$ for 50lbs. too rich for me but sounds like it would work for an aquarium. too bad in salt water it is useless for absorbing ammonia but if you have fresh water this may be a new filter media, lots of this in a canister or something.. just a side note.

[aggieMEDIC]

pavestone makes a pulverized limestone sand that works great. i will post some pics once i find em. but i am using it and i love it. I dont know which homedepots carry it here but its usually like 5 bucks for 50 lbs and for some reason it was on sale when i got it for like 2.99

hope that helps if you need more info i can try to find it for ya

edited to add pics - these pics are pretty old, i will take some new ones if you would like, i use this in both my pico and my nano. and once i get the money for a big tank ill use it in there

Edited October 9, 2007 by aggieMEDIC

[Entropy]

Wow! I like the look. I ended up using 100 lbs of play sand and it is working very nicely but is off white (leaning towards tan). Now you got me thinking of swapping it out. Maybe a little at a time so as not to screw the tank up too bad.

[KarenM]

I also like the look of the pulverized limestone, but it doesn't look smooth like sand, it looks like it has sharp edges. I have 2 conch snails and I'm wondering what they'd think about the limestone.

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