play sand

[TRe]

my friend is finnally setting up his first salt water tank after admiring my tank for the past few years... so he doesnt wanna spend to much $$$ on sand so i told him he could just get the play sand ...right???? so he went to home depot and all they had was leveling sand is this ok???? cant he just rinse it real good????

 

[Joe Fish]

You will get diatoms like you wouldn't believe, but other than that the sand is fine. Doesn't leveling sand have various sizes of sand and gravel in it? I don't know about leveling sand, but play sand will have silicates and that will cause the massive blooms of diatoms.

 

[FroggyFox]

It also depends on your water chemistry because I used playsand in my first SW tank and didn't have any issues with it. But yes, that is what everyone told me...the silicates would cause some algae issues...so your buddy should be aware of that.

 

[TRe]

ill let him know...... whats the best way the rinse it??? right in the tank and just syphin out the water a few times???

 

[FroggyFox]

um...not if its like playsand! ugh...that stuff the best way to do it is to put some in a pillowcase (one that you dont mind getting ruined), then run water through it while smooshing it around until the water comes out pretty light. Then pour that into the tank (preferrably empty or with just a little water) and do the next batch. Then add enough water to the tank to swish the sand around pretty good (say a couple inches over) and siphon out as much as possible (because it'll probably be thick with suspended particles)...then fill it up again and do the same thing...until you can pretty much stir it around and have the majority of the particles fall to the bottom within 10 seconds or so, then fill the tank and hope you rinsed it well enough. Its a pain in the behind.

 

[TRe]

wow sounds like fun ill let him know... now i know why i got live sand

 

[TRe]

one other question how much rock should he get to start the cycle??? icaint remeber it been a while

 

[rohnds]

I used play sand in my 1st SW tank and I never actually got rid of brown (diatomic) algae. This is due to SiO4 in sand. I assume that eventually the diatom will die down once the SiO4 in the sand is used up. But this will probably take years.

Rohn

 

[Dadstank]

You can use playsand but it won't have the benefits of calcium based sands.
I used some silica sand (sugargrain sized for sand blasting) mixed with my live sand and never had any issues with diatoms. I had heard about the diatom worries but there has been research done on it's use for SW and the only downfall was that it doesn't help as a buffer like calcium based sand does/can.
I personally say to do it the right way and not take any shortcuts.
If he is looking at playsand to save money.... this is the wrong hobby for him considering the cost of everything else involved to be succesful.

 

[TRe]

If he is looking at playsand to save money.... this is the wrong hobby for him considering the cost of everything else involved to be succesful.

thats actually not true i try to save money when i can having a sw tank you know how expensive it is to start one up... this is the reason he got play sand to save money for powerheads, skimmer, lr, ect...you mean to tell me everyone that used playsand is in the wrong hobby?? you said yur self you used part playsand was this not to save money???*crazysmil

 

[Lorna]

ouch...

You know some playsand that you can get is aragonite.......if you look high and low for it....tropical playsand.

other playsand is silca sand which isn't as kind on gobies and jawfishes as it has sharp edges .....and can increase some algae issues.

I agree that if you can save money in one area and use those funds to get quality live rock and a quality skimmer so be it.....

Just tell him not to use crushed coral

 

[Dadstank]

so he doesnt wanna spend to much $$$ on sand

That is what you originally stated.....

you said yur self you used part playsand was this not to save money???

Um... no I didn't use playsand. I used silica sand which is different than playsand,

I guess you took what I said in the wrong context... There are other ways to save money... or just wait and save up for what you want to get... My personal opinion is just that, an opinion.
There are better ways to save money getting your system set-up... I just ordered 30 pounds of LR and it only cost me $95 as to if I were to buy that amount at the LFS it would cost me $264+tax.... no it wasn't on ebay.

I agree that if you can save money in one area and use those funds to get quality live rock and a quality skimmer so be it.....

I do agree also. My OPINION is that there are other areas that the savings can be better than in the sand area. IE:$164+tax savings on my LR which right there I could use $164 for a nice skimmer, pwrheads..etc In my case it is for new speakers in my Jeep GC

If this is how people are going to react to me posting my opinion, ideas and such I won't come here anymore just like I got tired of reefcentral for all the super biased people that are there.
TRe, again this is my opinion, but after seeing all the questions you post I myself feel you don't have alot of experience in SW and need to do much more research which there is alot out there for information... like the downfalls of using playsand, and when you PM'd me about refugiums/overflows. If you are offended... too bad. I fought for my freedom of speech and for yours.

 

[SALTY WATERS]

He is better off spending the little extra dollars it will cost to get proper SW substrate... He may end up spending more on trying to get ride of algea problems down the road from the playsand....!

As for how much LR is needed to start the cycle... you could do it will less then a 1lbs, as you just need to get some of the bacteria in the tank, but it is best to add the entire amount from the getgo, as otherwise you will get a small cycle everytime he adds new LR unless it is truely cured.

1-2lbs of LR per/gallon is a what you want to shoot for.

 

[TRe]

i feel the same way thats why personally i didnt use play sand i was just askin cause he asked me ..... im pretty sure he already got the play sand so i guess he's kinda stuck now but ill keep ya posted when i find out

If this is how people are going to react to me posting my opinion, ideas and such I won't come here anymore just like I got tired of reefcentral for all the super biased people that are there.

the same way you have yur own opinions/ideas so do other people dont freak out out if someone doesnt agree