Reef sand in the Chicago area?

[RWD]

Hi,
I still need to find some sand for my new tank I'm setting up.I figure I'll need about 300 lbs of new sand.I have been to Home Depot and Menards and can't find Tropical Play Sand.Does anyone know where I can find some (cheap) or an alternative in the Chicago area?Bob

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Visit my new web page: http://bobsreefermadness.homestead.com/index.html

[mhurley]

Bob,

I've had this conversation with a number of folks in the suburbs and Tropical Play Sand was in the area last year, now it's gone. Every HD I've called said they don't carry it anymore. I have not tried to get a group together and asked them to ship a pallet of the stuff here yet, might be an idea. I'm hearing that it's only out in the east coast now.

I unfortunately don't know of any safe & cheap alternative.

Mike

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There is a fine line between "Hobby" and "Mental Illness."

[Budes45]

If you need people in the area who need reef substrate, count me in. There has to be enough people in the Chicago land area who need this.

[RWD]

Mike and Budes,
Thanks for your posts.Just what I thought.No sand available.I might have to bite the bullet and go with CaribeSea oolitic(?) sand from the lfs.Anyone else have a source?

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Visit my new web page: http://bobsreefermadness.homestead.com/index.html

[JSC]

HD will ship if you speak with a manager. Most Jersey stores carry it.It is cheaper to pay shipping costs than to pay Caribsea's price but not that much. I will go in on some if you do.

[dragon0121]

All,
Another option to consider. If you have a good in with a LFS owner this might work, it's what I did to get 750 lbs of Aragamax sugar sand. Caribsea sells to wholesalers, the wholesalers sell to retailers (the LFS) and you are the recipient of 2 markups. Working in conjuction with the LFS who also wanted over 1000 lbs of sand; the LFS owner contacted his wholesaler and cut a deal with them to purchase 2000 lbs of Aragamax (65 or 66 bags of sand) for $.35/lbs.
When I priced getting HD sand shipped to me common carrier, or me driving 800 miles to pick it up, it kept figuring out to around $.30/lbs. So for $40 more and no hassle on my part, I got what I wanted. Just an option to consider :) .