I've been in the hobby for about five years now and i've noticed alot more people search for this 'Southdown Sand'. I would like to know why is it so sought after, I have always used live sand purchased from my LFS.. Any insight would be helpful being I just moved from Southern California to Milwaukee Wisconsin (Military) and I am finding it hard to start up my reef again, not much around here for good saltwater livestock or supplies and yes I have been to the two recommended stores (not very impressed). Is 'Southdown Sand' something you would have to seed or is it just that it will take longer to start?
???SOUTHDOWN SAND????
- Thread starter Mekinnik1
- Start date
Well I'm very new to reefs but I just setup my first tank with Southdown sand. Besides all the threads on it in this and other forums, Dr. Mac where I purchased my live rock from showed me his tanks which all use Southdown sand, he said it's the same stuff LFS sell for $$ per pound. Luckily most HD stores carry it in my area, I paid $8 for each 50lb bag. It's obviously not live sand, I plan to add a couple pounds of live sand from various sources to seed it, however I've also been told that the live rock will also do it's part in seeding it. I'm not sure how long it takes to turn dead sand to live sand but it sure saved me a lot of money. It looks good too, has little shells in it and so forth.... I did find one big ugly black rock in one bag though, I siffed the rest and found a couple of marble sized pebbles here and there that I removed. I did have to wash it well however, it is quite "dusty" initially.
Hope that helps
Giancarlo
Hope that helps
Giancarlo
Southdown sand is (if I spell it correctly) aragonite (calcium carbonate based) sand sold at some home depots as "tropical play sand". The big advantage is that it is about $6/50pounds instead of the LFS live sand prices. It is also not live sand.
As aragonite it provides the same advantages as live sand once it becomes live. You can use live sand on top to seed the tropical play sand.
In order to insure you have the correct sand be sure it is labeled "tropical play sand" and it says right on the bag "not recommended for traction or aquarium use".
There have been several posts and rumors along the line that Home Depot is not carring it because it is no longer being made.
I use a different method in my 55g. Basically I use 1" of silica play sand, macros, and crushed oyster shells in a diy filter box. Hopefully I get the same benifits at a much reduced cost. And the materials are locally available throughout the entire country.
HTH
As aragonite it provides the same advantages as live sand once it becomes live. You can use live sand on top to seed the tropical play sand.
In order to insure you have the correct sand be sure it is labeled "tropical play sand" and it says right on the bag "not recommended for traction or aquarium use".
There have been several posts and rumors along the line that Home Depot is not carring it because it is no longer being made.
I use a different method in my 55g. Basically I use 1" of silica play sand, macros, and crushed oyster shells in a diy filter box. Hopefully I get the same benifits at a much reduced cost. And the materials are locally available throughout the entire country.
HTH
The biggest kicker with it actually is its fine grade.. - Because the grains are smaller there is more surface area for bacteria to colonize.
Some people find it to be too fine though, clouding up for weeks and clogging pumps supposedly. Those reports are few though.. - For most people it clears within a couple days at most though. (I've got it down to where I get almost NO clouding when setting up.)
I tend to want some larger grains in there for burrowing creatures to use in construting their tunnels or what have you so I add about 25% of the "Grand Bahamas Mix" to add some larger sized bulk into it.
Some people find it to be too fine though, clouding up for weeks and clogging pumps supposedly. Those reports are few though.. - For most people it clears within a couple days at most though. (I've got it down to where I get almost NO clouding when setting up.)
I tend to want some larger grains in there for burrowing creatures to use in construting their tunnels or what have you so I add about 25% of the "Grand Bahamas Mix" to add some larger sized bulk into it.
As far as stores in the area go, you might want to plan trips into the chicago area, there are several really good ones. And when you have a few hours to kill in the car, Indiana has a couple very nice ones too. I feel your pain on not having good staores. I was 15 minutes from 3 really good ones then moved to Rockford and there is crap out here. When ever it is time to by I load up the car and go for a drive. PM me if you want a lits of the good ones.
It also comes labeld as YardRight tropical playsand and Old Castle. Make sure it reads 100% natural from the carribean. Don't rinse it. The "experts" claim that all is needed, even the dust. Just throw an uncooked table shrimp in your tank to get some bacteria going. The bacteria will "grab" the fine particles and help settle the dust storm. Also this will start the cycle. Add LR and/or some LS to seed it.
Don't wash it? wow, mine looked like cement powder was mixed into it. I washed it a lot, it made a mess, I still have a grey lawn where I washed it 
I actually got the idea of using this sand originally from Dr. Macs, he suggested I wash it very well so that's what I did. I guess opinions vary from person to person, but mine was really very dirty/dusty, I don't regret washing it personally.
Giancarlo
I actually got the idea of using this sand originally from Dr. Macs, he suggested I wash it very well so that's what I did. I guess opinions vary from person to person, but mine was really very dirty/dusty, I don't regret washing it personally.
Giancarlo
I don't think you can ever wash southdown enough to get out all the fine grains; most of it is that fine. Also I probably wouldn't bother looking for it at Home Depot now, at least not in northern states. Its the kind of thing they stock in spring and summer. I have done a number of tanks with it, but would use something a bit coarser for any new set ups. It inhibits my pump placement and intensity too much for a sps tank.
At least within the parameters of Rob Toonen's talk at Macna, coarse denitrifies just as well as fine. Tha will be published in Advanced Aquarist sometime soon, I think.
At least within the parameters of Rob Toonen's talk at Macna, coarse denitrifies just as well as fine. Tha will be published in Advanced Aquarist sometime soon, I think.
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