southdown vs seaflor special grade (caribsea)

[rhodas]

can some one tell me the difference between these two items
I am just a beginner and I am shopping for substrate foe a new 55
can some give me a clue

 

[AvonleaPA]

I'm not an expert on the subject, but my first response would be PRICE!

Anyone else? 8O

 

[ChrisRD]

I think the Southdown has a finer particle distribution as well, which (according to Ron Shimek) is desirable for a DSB sediment.

 

[King Jason]

Southdown is also a lot whiter then Caribsea. I put a cup of my old sandbed (Caribsea) on my Southdown sand bed and was pissed because the Caribsea was so much darker then the Southdown. Put a big tan circle in my beautiful white sand bed :x

20 pounds of Caribsea = ~$20
50 pounds Southdown - $3-15 (you shouldn't pay more then this)
Knowing you got an whiter and finer sand bed then someone with Caribsea = Priceless

 

[Ben1]

Actually a proper DSB consist of many different grains and I feel are best when made using multiple sized sands from sp sea floor grade as the largest, and oolite as the smallest.

FWIW I do use some southdown but prefer the carib sea. IMO the carib sea is a much better and cleaner sand. Southdown is known to have metals and organics at a much higher rate then the carib sea sands. Carib sea and southdown come from the same place but are prepped much differently.

In any case the major difference inbetween the two is grain size.
HTH

 

[danmhippo]

If you are still not sure, use primarily southdown and maybe 10% or less of others. So far, SD is still the most economical subtrate I've seen on the market.