[pbareiss]

Does anyone know how Southdown sand is collected? Is it mined from the land (an old petrified reef)? Is it dredged from the bottom of the ocean?

I want to know because I am trying to put a tank together with nothing from the ocean--aquacultured fish, corals, non-ocean rocks, etc. If Southdown is dredged do you know of any sand manufacturer out there that does not get sand from the ocean?

Thank you,
Patrick

[ricksreef]

southdown comes from about 60ft of water off the bahamas,

[Reefland]

Hi pbareiss,


That sounds like an interesting project you have going on there. Very commendable.

You might be stuck using a silica quartz sand since I think all aragonite sand would be pulled from the ocean, or at least a beach. I might be wrong here though.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by pbareiss

Does anyone know how Southdown sand is collected? Is it mined from the land (an old petrified reef)?

No.

Is it dredged from the bottom of the ocean?

Not exactly. It is mined from calcium carbonate (aragonite) deposits in the Bahama banks. These deposits are formed by calcium carbonate precipitation.

As far as I know, all aragonite sand comes from the same place and it is all mined by Marcona Ocean Industries. I am not aware of any other such operation anywhere else in the world. I'm not sure if "mined" is the proper term to use here. Maybe you could call it dredged. I'm just not sure which word is more appropriate. I'm leaning more towards "mined."


P.S. -- Don't confuse this answer with what is called "live sand" -- true live sand, not the stuff in the plastic bags with the fancy logos. "Live sand" is collected sand from the tropics or, in the case of Florida live sand, from the Keys. This is calcareous sand that comes from a variety of sources. For example, tropical beach sand and the sand around coral reefs, is composed of anywhere from 10% - 50% Halimeda remains. In fact, I believe the percentage of Halimeda remains in Hawaiian beach sands may be much higher than 50%. (The white sand beaches, not the black sand beaches. The black sand is of volcanic origin.) Halimeda and other calcareous algae contain calcium carbonate crystals that become part of the sediments upon the death of the algae. Sediments also contain the skeletal remains of foraminiferans and other tiny creatures. Even echinoderms contain calcium carbonate that becomes part of the sediments upon their death. And, of course, parrot fish produce coral sediments when they eat hard corals for their zooxanthellae, expelling the crushed coral.