Quikrete play sand

Well I bought 100lbs bc I read on a few sites that its ok. After a bit more research I'm finding conflicting reports of how safe it is to use. Any info would be appreciated.

 

From what I've read it's silica/quartz sand and therefore not suitable for a reef tank.

 

Agreed entirely.
Hopefully it's not too late to take it back for your money or credit.

Base sand is the cheapest, safest way to go. A lot of ppl have used CaribSea Pink Oolite Sugar Sand.

If you are buying 100lbs - sounds like a big tank - you are not going to want to cheap out on your sand. For all the money you will be spending it's not worth saving a few dollars IMO.

 

Ok thanks for confirming that for me, atleast now I get to level my yard out lol. So what kind of dry sand would y'all recomend besides the pink? And where could I get it?

 

The "pink" might be a misnomer - it's not overwhelmingly pink at all. Not sure how they got the name to be honest. But as far as quality substrate to my knowledge the CaribSea has been pretty good for most. It is usually a stock item at a lot of LFS.

 

It's quartz crystals, so, you aren't going to get much dissolution. I mean, your glass 75ish% silica and we don't really worry about it dissolving.

In reality, agronite sand will release silica. Really though, the issue is probably not an issue. Silica causes diatoms, come initially, but go away once the pod population forms. Pods are food for many organisims, so this is a good thing, but when the silica is used up, the pods population tends to crash. For this reason, I know of a number of reefkeepers actually dose silicates. So, I would not consider the potential silica a serious issue, if an issue at all.

That said, I would not use the sand for two reasons, quartz is sharp and could potentially harm bottom dwellers and second is quality control. Who knows what else is in it, it isn't intended for aquariums.

I would recommend a medium grain agronite. I don't like fine grain, it blows around too much.

 

found it, I was looking for this article. Everything you could possibly want to know and then some. Advanced Aquarist Feature Article

 

Thanks for the info and link.

 

Well I called my lfs and they have a 40 pound bag of sand for $35. Dang I went from 100lbs for 8 bucks to 80lbs for $70... kind of a slap in the face lol.

 

I see quite a few people on 3reef using Marco Rocks Sand.