[Drummer]

I have read that Home Depot used to sell Southdown sand that folks have been using and then adding some live sand to "seed" it. They are now carrying Oldcastle sand instead. I have read in some other forums that this is the same stuff and works well to start a live sandbed. Is this true? Is it like aragonite? If I did use this or found some Southdown, how much "real" live sand should I purchase to seed this bed? I am going to start a 75 gal FOWL tank and appreciate all the advice I have gotten so far. Thanks again !

Bill

[Reefland]

Bill,

I have not heard anything of this Old Castle sand and therefore cannot comment on it. If it is pure aragonite, I beleive you can put some in Vinegar and if it dissolves it is pure aragonite.

As far as seeding a new sandbed, the best thing to do is get cups fulls from as many different sources of livesand as you can. Vendors, friends tanks, both of these are options for you to search. The more diversity you can add, the better off your bed will be.

Scott Z.

[Ninong]

Drummer,

The good news is that Oldcastle sand is aragonite. Southdown was bought out by Old Castle several months ago. The bags are exactly the same as the old Southdown 50-lb bags: Red and blue figure of little boy, wording says "Oldcastle Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean" instead of "Southdown Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean." There is a new cute little warning at the bottom of the bag telling you it is not suitable for aquariums. HaHa!!! Wonder why they put that on there.

Now for the bad news: There is none in Washington state. This stuff is only available at stores within a reasonable distance of Easton, Pennsylvania. Reasonable distance means hundreds of miles, not thousands of miles.

Sometimes individual hobbyists will pay to have some of it shipped by the pallet load to the west coast. That makes the cost per 50-lb bag about $18. People on the east coast can buy it for less than $4 per bag. In extremely rare cases hobbyists have talked their local Home Depot into getting some transshipped but those cases are few and far between.

[Drummer]

I called Home Depot here and they do carry Old Castle sand, but it's not the tropical version. "dang" ! I have found a supplier in Idaho that has Southdown sand and can get it for about $25.00 per 50 pound bag, shipped to my door.
That's a lot cheaper than buying pure Aragonite ! I'll get with Kevinpo and buy some live sand "seed" from him, add that to the 75 pounds of Southdown I will put in the tank and I should be fine.....don't you think?

Bill

Originally Posted by Ninong

Drummer,

The good news is that Oldcastle sand is aragonite. Southdown was bought out by Oldcastle several months ago. The bags are exactly the same as the old Southdown 50-lb bags: Red and blue figure of little boy, wording says "Oldcastle Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean" instead of "Southdown Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean." There is a new cute little warning at the bottom of the bag telling you it is not suitable for aquariums. HaHa!!! Wonder why they put that on there.

Now for the bad news: There is none in Washington state. This stuff is only available at stores within a reasonable distance of Easton, Pennsylvania. Reasonable distance means hundreds of miles, not thousands of miles.

Sometimes individual hobbyists will pay to have some of it shipped by the pallet load to the west coast. That makes the cost per 50-lb bag about $18. People on the east coast can buy it for less than $4 per bag. In extremely rare cases hobbyists have talked their local Home Depot into getting some transshipped but those cases are few and far between.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Drummer

I called Home Depot here and they do carry Old Castle sand, but it's not the tropical version. "dang" ! I have found a supplier in Idaho that has Southdown sand and can get it for about $25.00 per 50 pound bag, shipped to my door.
That's a lot cheaper than buying pure Aragonite ! I'll get with Kevinpo and buy some live sand "seed" from him, add that to the 75 pounds of Southdown I will put in the tank and I should be fine.....don't you think?

Bill

Are you absolutely positive that the Southdown sand that the supplier in Idaho has is Southdown Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean? Not all of Southdown's products are calcareous sand. Southdown was owned by CEMEX, the Mexican conglomerate, and they sold a lot more than just the aragonite sand. Not all Play Sand is aragonite. In fact, most play sand is NOT aragonite. You can't even go by the SKU numbers because the same SKU numbers can apply to both silica sand and aragonite sand. The only way to be sure of what you are getting is be certain that the bag has the words "Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean."

[Drummer]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Are you absolutely positive that the Southdown sand that the supplier in Idaho has is Southdown Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean? Not all of Southdown's products are calcareous sand. Southdown was owned by CEMEX, the Mexican conglomerate, and they sold a lot more than just the aragonite sand. Not all Play Sand is aragonite. In fact, most play sand is NOT aragonite. You can't even go by the SKU numbers because the same SKU numbers can apply to both silica sand and aragonite sand. The only way to be sure of what you are getting is be certain that the bag has the words "Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean."

Here is the link to the supplier....

http://www.idahosaltwateremporium.com/sand.html

And here is his Ebay ad as well....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EBWA%3AIT&rd=1


I will be putting in an order for 2-50lb bags this afternoon, then go see kevinpo and get my tank. Next week I'll be building the stand and canopy.
I was thinking about making a bunch of diy rock with the left over sand and then adding say 40 pounds of genuine L/R along with it in the tank. Think that might work if I let it cure together in the tank for say.....a month ?

Opinions on diy rock ? Tips ??

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Drummer

Here is the link to the supplier....

http://www.idahosaltwateremporium.com/sand.html

And here is his Ebay ad as well....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EBWA%3AIT&rd=1


I will be putting in an order for 2-50lb bags this afternoon, then go see kevinpo and get my tank. Next week I'll be building the stand and canopy.
I was thinking about making a bunch of diy rock with the left over sand and then adding say 40 pounds of genuine L/R along with it in the tank. Think that might work if I let it cure together in the tank for say.....a month ?

Opinions on diy rock ? Tips ??

The sand pictured on eBay is the Southdown/Oldcastle Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean. Oldcastle used the exact same bag design and just changed the name from Southdown Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean to Oldcastle Tropical Play Sand from the Caribbean.

I am not familiar with the plain brown bags of granular aragonite sand that are pictured loaded on pallets, so I have I no idea if they are exactly the same or not. In particular, I would not know what the particle size analysis is, something I do know about the other product pictured on eBay.

If you are getting the exact bags pictured on eBay, then you are getting exactly what I have in my tank.

[golfish]

Originally Posted by Ninong

There is a new cute little warning at the bottom of the bag telling you it is not suitable for aquariums. HaHa!!! Wonder why they put that on there.

Maybe they have been reading about "old tank sydrome"

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by golfish

Maybe they have been reading about "old tank sydrome"

Or maybe they have a vested interest in not taking sales away from the well known more expensive product.

[golfish]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Or maybe they have a vested interest in not taking sales away from the well known more expensive product.

I bet its Old tank syndrome