salwater sand

Question
Hey Bill,I am recently trying to start up a saltwater tank from scratch,I read some good tips online about how you can use a certain sand from home depot(southdown tropical play sand).I went to a home depot in my area,and they did'nt have that particular brand,so I picked up what they had which was quickrete premium play sand,I rushed home,and put the sand in my curing tank.Now I'm wondering,am going to have to take this out?,because it's not tropical,and I also noticed its alot darker in color,will this be harmful,or just a waste of time?,is there any argonite in this? my tank looks like a reservoir of cappuchino.Please help,is there a way around this?what should I do? Thanks.

Kwazi.

Answer
Hello Kwazi,

Unfortunately, i think the sand you used will not be good.

Not only is it not 'tropical' but it is made of the wrong materials...

Sand can come from different places.. mostly broken rock, but some is made from broken corals...

this is called 'ARAGONITE' sand...

The other sand is called silica sand.. Silica is BAD for aquarium.. it will leach material into the water that will cause algae and other negative things..

Sorry to advise this but you will have to remove that sand and replace it with ARAGONITE sand...

good luck and please keep me posted as to what you end up doing.

you can join my new forum at www.thelittleocean.com and post updates there.


good luck


bill