Does DSB sand need to be aragonite based?

Or could I just use play sand (quartz.) If there's any benefit I'll go with the aragonite but no reason to waste money if the calcium isn't going to be used. Also what grain is best if I do get aragonite, was thinking oolite.
Does anyone suggest using that clay kitty litter for a dsb instead. Thanks.

 

This was brought up in a recent thread here:

http://www.3reef.com/forums/sand/sand-dunes-reef-safe-99541.html

Yes, you want aragonite, not silica/ quartz based sand.

 

I was just reading this about silica sand:

Silica. - There is an inactive and active side to silica. The active side is where the plenum is probably gaining some oxygen. The active acids are "Monosilicic acid and Polysilicic acid." These acids hold 6 - 8 elements of oxygen. Dissolved silica can easily deliver the amount of oxygen that has been recorded.

So I guess it is a good idea to stick with the aragonite, though I'm thinking of collecting sand and mud from around different areas here and building it up that way, the only downfall could be pollutants, but there would be a lot of biodiversity I think.

 

This often comes up when people are putting their tanks together.

with all of the money that we spend on the tanks, it is 100% my personal opinion that it's not even remotely worth risking these kinds of materials especially when they play a crucial role in the stability of the tank.

The risks FAR outweigh any potential benefits.

If you collect sand and mud from different areas you are actually going against what it is that we reefers are generally striving for: conservation and preservation.

If you are harvesting from the wild you are running a lot of risks.

You can bring diseases and parasites that your fish (or you) might not be able to fight.

You can bring in pollutants of infinite variety and completely unknown concentration.

Just think - if you get one handful of mud with a single drop of oil/gas/etc in it - your whole tank is SHOT.

To answer your questions I offer another: Is it really worth it?

 

+ infinity to this one sentence!

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/sand/play-sand-97780.html

I wouldn't use something you personally took from nature but I and many others have used play sand in tanks and I've never read of anyone actually having any problems with it. I'd rinse it like I explained in that post though. Someone said it clumps and becomes hard in that thread but mine hasn't began to do anything like that in the 7 months it's been in saltwater.

If this is for a reef tank I think many corals might need nutrients from the aquarium sand, but many people have bare bottom tanks so not all corals do, if any.

 

Once bacterial biofilms have populated the sandbed, very little buffering occurs. In other words, it isn't providing any Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium, nor strontium to your corals. A sandbed provides a place for more nitrifying bacteria to live and operate as mporary nutrient sink. If set up properly, you may experience some NNR (Natural Nitrate Reduction). If you have a softy tank, one of the things does do is leach phosphorus and this helps softies grow. It's not quite as good for LPS corals and it's definitely not as good for SPS corals as phosphorus inhibits calcification.

This is also why your sand doesn't have to be aragonite....once the bacteria take over, it doesn't matter what the sand is made of. I've used sandblasting sand, Silica play sand, aragonite, aragonite play sand, Basalt sand, Feldspar sand, Dolomite sand, etc. The advantage of Aragonite sand is that it's readily avalable in various sizes and colors. One other advantage it is less sharp for people who want to keep specific animals that burrow into sand (i.e. many wrasses, engineer gobies, etc).

In short, bacteria don't care what type of sand you have.

 

I should've stated that the dsb is going in the first chamber of my converted wet dry sump so it's not very much; wasn't going to be removing vast natural resources, more like a cupful here and there, but the problem with nasties has ruled that out. I have heard a few people say the silica would be ok, but that info about silica having some oxygen molecules in it that dissolve and free o2 into the dsb makes me leery of it, but who knows? I guess it wouldn't kill me to bust out another $20 for a bag of aragonite oolite sand.