what sand to use in my 50g (being cheap)

[Candi]

Need to figure out what sand to use in my 50g since I'm going to be replacing the crushed coral shortly. I know I should probably spend the $ and get actual aquarium sand however if I can get away w/o it I'd like to I have about 10lbs left over from my nano which I'll be adding (carbisea)... are there any currents at lowes/hd that anyone recommends or likes (as in whatever brand of white playsand they put out this year) or should I spend the cash for the real deal? Just looking to do a shallow sandbed.

Thanks

 

[blange3]

Every reefer needs to go on a Southdown hunt once in their life! ;D

Southdown was an aragonite tropical playsand that was readily available a few years ago. Ocassionally it shows up in a Home Depot. It will dissolve in vinegar. Boy do they look at you strange in HD when you try to dissolve their sand!

I was fortunate to get some from a tank breakdown and a fresh bag from another reefer. You will get strong negative reactions from many on recycled sand. I washed it thoroughly in saltwater discarded from a water change and it went into a tank that cycled five months before adding fish and corals. I didn't have any problems.


I have also used the white playsand. Again, some object to silica based sands as a cause of diatom blooms. I have a two year old tank that is mostly white silica based play sand. Almost every new tank will experience a diatom bloom. Wash it well; I have found pieces of plant debris in it.

 

[Candi]

LOL I went on said hunt last year when I setup my aquapod... ended up deciding it wasn't worth the hassels as I wasn't even going to use a full 20lb back in the tank and just picked up a bag from the LFS. I did buy a bag of whatever white playsand HD had last year, my daughter enjoyed it in her sandbox LOL

I'll likely just suck it up and buy the real stuff, the tank is already surviving on luck and water changes (50g non rr acrylic with no sump, fuge, etc) why risk something that might cause more issues.