snad question

M

mott768

Registered Member
Sep 16, 2005
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sand question

:confused: Hi, I am new to the world of SW. I am setting up a 29 gallon tank and I have a question about what sand to use. I want to use Southdown play sand but can't find it anywhere. I live in NJ ocean county if anybody knows where I can get some please let me know.

:help: Anyway my questions are, How much sand should I use for a deep sand bed? If I can find the Southdown how much play sand and how much live sand should I put for a deep sand bed? Also If I can't find the SD how much live sand should I use? I was going to buy the Caribbean sea's pink Fiji live sand but I am not sure, is there something better I should use or will this be fine? I plan on keeping some star fish and crabs, Thanks in advance.
 
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Hiya :)
I'm new to SW as well, can't even begin to answer questions about DSBs so I'll leave that up to the experts. Fiji pink is nice sand, I use 'sugar sized' aragonite and love it. SouthDown is a hot topic - if you run a search over at www.reefcentral.com you'll find a thread called 'everything you ever wanted to know about SouthDown', there's a lot of information on availability - this stuff isn't easy to get, AFAIK it's only available in some areas of the US. I don't think you really need live sand - many people suggest getting one bag live and the rest dry or all dry; it will become live over time (your live rock will seed it).
If you want to research DSBs, reefcentral is a good place to go for that as well - no topic is more hotly debated than barebottom (BB) vs. DSB! Happy reading :)
 
As Blinky said, there's tremendous debate over there about sand beds. Frankly, I'm not sure if it's very useful. I just got back from a meeting where Eric Borneman was describing every way he's set up a tank in the last many years, pointing out that BB and DSB both work. Without sand, you will be missing a lot of the fauna that keep a tank healthy (and interesting!).

You don't need Southdown, Oldcastle or anything that special. Any clean playsand will do. Many of us have set up effective sand beds with plain old playsand. The sand adds so little calcium and carbonate, worrying about getting aragonite sand is not all that worthwhile. Then get some sand from a fellow reefer or LFS, or even better, some fresh Florida live sand, and seed some life into it.

Just an opinion.
 
Thanks for the reply. I have been to 2 home depots and low's, the play sand they had wasn't tropical and didn't say it was sanitized, so I was very leery about buying it. As for the old castle brand I can't find old castle, yard right or Southdown anywhere. I even called some lawn and garden places nobody sells tropical play sand. I was think of putting 20 lbs of Caribbean sea pink Fiji live sand and 20 lbs of dead sand don't know what brand yet. Will 40 lbs of sand be good for a 29 gallon tank? Or should I use more sand? I want to keep some sea stars and crabs.

Is there anyone in Ocean or Monmouth County NJ that has Southdown, Yard right or old castle play sand that is willing to part with it? I just need 20 lbs :bowing:
 
I know I look there before I posted here. I am willing to pay for it but I am now going to pay $60 for a $5 bag of sand I am not that desprate and at that point I could buy all live sand from the LFS for that price. I figured I would try here first to see if I can get some localy.
 
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