Substrate Questions

[mrayburn]

Can anyone tell me if there is a differance between the fine white sand at my LFS and the sand box sand at home improvement stores and can it be used in a reef tank?

[TimH07]

the sand at your home imporvement store is most likely siclica sand, which is not good for reef aquariums. silicone is one of the few elements that can provide life, even boiling down to one of the 2 bases of life, you can have carbon based life, like here on earth, and silicone based life which would be more rigid and crystal like, as much theorized by some scientists.

ok so that was off and down a side trail.... basicly silica sand can cause unwanted growth of algae. im sure i could fine tune my spelling and go into more detail, but its happy hour and i had a hard day, i'll leave that to ninong

[Ninong]

silicone is one of the few elements that can provide life,...

The element (Si) is called silicon. Silicone is a silicon-based compound.

basicly silica sand can cause unwanted growth of algae.

This is not necessarily true. Pure quartz sand does NOT dissolve in saltwater. However, it's always possible that the quartz sand could contain a certain amount of impurities that could dissolve to a limited extent. Feldspar, for example, might dissolve over time.

Personally I don't care for quartz (silica) sand for a marine aquarium but maybe that's just me. I would only use aragonite sand.

[Ninong]

Can anyone tell me if there is a differance between the fine white sand at my LFS and the sand box sand at home improvement stores and can it be used in a reef tank?

The fine white sand at your LFS is aragonite sand. Aragonite is a crystal of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). I would not use silica (SiO2) sand myself but some people do.

The "play sand" at your local home improvement store is probably quartz (silica) sand, especially if you live in Indiana. There was a time when aragonite sand was available as "play sand" at Home Depot stores along the East Coast but when it was, it was ALWAYS labeled as "Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean." Without that magic phrase on the bag, it was NOT aragonite sand. It was just plain old, terrestrial, quartz sand. And aragonite sand was only available at certain Home Depot stores along the East Coast. It was never available nationwide.

If you want to test "play sand" to see if it's aragonite or not, simply pour a small amount of acid (vinegar or hydrochloric acid) on it and see if it fizzes as it reacts with the acid to release carbon dioxide. Aragonite will do that, quartz will not. In fact, you could place a small amount of aragonite sand into a cup of vinegar and watch it dissolve. Quartz sand would not dissolve in vinegar.

"Play sand" can be either quartz or aragonite. It's usually quartz.

P.S. -- Another way to tell if the sand inside the bag is silica sand or aragonite sand is to look for a Prop. 65 warning on the bag. If there is a warning on the bag that silica may be carcinogenic, then it's not aragonite sand. It's quartz (silica) sand. That's because years ago California passed a law (Proposition 65) mandating that warnings be placed on any products that are potentially carcinogenic. Silica dust is carcinogenic to humans if inhaled. A lot of stuff is carcinogenic to humans if inhaled. If the sand inside the bag is aragonite, there will be no warning about silica being carcinogenic on the bag. Again, the only aragonite sand that was sometimes available at certain Home Depots on the East Coast was sold under the brand names, Southdown, Yardright and Oldcastle and it always contained the phrase "Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean" following the brand name.

[TimH07]

The element (Si) is called silicon. Silicone is a silicon-based compound.


This is not necessarily true. Pure quartz sand does NOT dissolve in saltwater. However, it's always possible that the quartz sand could contain a certain amount of impurities that could dissolve to a limited extent. Feldspar, for example, might dissolve over time.

Personally I don't care for quartz (silica) sand for a marine aquarium but maybe that's just me. I would only use aragonite sand.

like i said too many drinks into caring lol! although i dont like comming off like an idiot, its been along hard day

[Minh Nguyen]

Sillica sand can be use without problem. I have done it, and my tank thrive. I plan to use it in the future (in a remote sand bed)
It was reason by some people that Ca base sand can dissolve at low pH and buffer marine tank. This is the main reason Dolomites and various Ca base substrates was used in salt water tank in the past from the early days. However, in a modern reef tank, if one let the pH drop down to the point where CaCO3 dissolves to any significant amount, one may as well empty the tank and start over.

[mrayburn]

Thanx for all the info thats all I need to know . I took alot of short cuts on my 120 , now that I'm up grading to a reef ready 150 I want to do this one right. I'm sure I'll be asking a lot more questions over the next month.