Silica Sand for DSB

[Tankless in Dubai]

Once and for all...

What are the KNOWN drawbacks of using silica sand other than decreased buffering ability?

 

[danmhippo]

Before the introduction of aragonite sand, people were using silica sand to setup marine tanks. I too had a tank using silica sand. Personally, I have not noticed any differences, other than darker in color. I would attribute it to the brand of sand used (source of sand).

 

[Anonymous]

I used white silica sand from HD mixed with some old Southdown when I moved to my new 180G tank. I could not find SD anywhere locally so I said screw it and just did the silica, which actually is not that bad looking. One of the things I have heard about it is that the "sharp edges" of silica can hurt organisms that go through the sand. Not sure how valid that is, but my sand seems to be pretty full of life and I have had no noticable problems after about 8 months of setup.

 

[O P Ing]

One of the things I have heard about it is that the "sharp edges" of silica can hurt organisms that go through the sand.

hi.
Yeah... I heard that for years, and it is very true if you put the critters and the sand in a tumbler, and let it tumble for a couple hours.

Oh, do you know that you need to use special plastic-coated sand in FW? Scientific studies had shown that sharp edges of regular sand ingested by fishes is detrimental to the digestive system, causing billions of fishes to die prematurely every year! :wink:

 

[ride928]

I have 100 lbs of Quikrete PREMIUM playsand in my 55. It's been there for about 3 months and it's just as white as southdown. There are some silica sands that are more of a brownish color. Just make sure you get the premium one and you'll be fine.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm curious, though, how you would manage buffering capacity in your sys. Have you got a plan for that? Isn't there LOTS of sand in Dubai? Is it all silica, or maybe DG (decomposed granite)? (I'm kidding, btw, but not about how you'd deal with buffering)

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
The amount of buffering a substrate provide is very minimal, so to compensate for the use of sil sand, a calcium reactor, or an aragonite filter, will be more than sufficient.

 

[0db]

Oh, do you know that you need to use special plastic-coated sand in FW? Scientific studies had shown that sharp edges of regular sand ingested by fishes is detrimental to the digestive system, causing billions of fishes to die prematurely every year! :wink:

That's why when I put my sandbed in, I used some good tweezers to hand-dip each grain of sand with some of this stuff:

My sandbed is niiice and smooth for the little worms now.