Aragonite Sand

[racreel]

Does anyone know of a good source of aragonite sand (Southdown or otherwise) in North Alabama? :confused:

Thanks,
racreel

[vett67]

racreel,
you have email

[kng]

I would be interested to know also.

Thanks,
-Kyle

[vett67]

About a month ago I ordered 200 lb. of Southdown Play Sand
at the Home Depot on Memorial Parkway.
Since then a friend here in Arab also ordered some.
Simply go to the contractor's desk and ask them to order it for you. They don't stock it now but they can get it from the Louisville,
KY store. They said if there was enough demand, they would begin to stock it.
Woodie
When we ordered it was $4.99 per 50lb bag.

[vett67]

About a month ago I ordered 200 lb. of Southdown Play Sand
at the Home Depot on Memorial Parkway.
Since then a friend here in Arab also ordered some.
Simply go to the contractor's desk and ask them to order it for you. They don't stock it now but they can get it from the Louisville,
KY store. They said if there was enough demand, they would begin to stock it.
Woodie
When we ordered it was $4.99 per 50lb bag.

[Leviathan]

Just make sure you DO NOT let them know it is for aquarium use.

Some HD's lately have refused business on the SD issue for this reason.

I know it dosent happen at all locations, but I would not let them know more than they need to, none of their business what you want it for anyhow.

[kng]

vett67,

Was there a certaing UPC, Part Number, Skew, etc. that you ordered it by?

Thanks!
-Kyle

[H@rry]

Search around for posts concerning Southdown at Home Depot. It seems that although you have the correct SKU, the product may be different depending on the location. Depending on the locaction of the Home Depot, they may get a different product from a different vendor with the same SKU. Apparantly Home Depot has a generic SKU for play sand that covers more than aragonite sand. You need to look at the bottom corner of the bag for the vendor. It should come from a vendor in PA. Also WalMart has been handling an aragonite play sand. I think the brand name was something like YardRight. It was also from the same vendor in PA. I went to WalMart on South Parkway and found the same identical bag that was shown in the thread here on RC but when you looked at the corner of the bag it came from Mussel Shoals, AL. If you want to make sure that it is aragonite and not silica sand, put a spoonful in a small bowl and pour some vinegar on it. If it's aragonite it will fizz a little bit.

[H@rry]

I found the thread that discusses the Home Depot issue.


http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26193

[racreel]

Is anybody planning on ordering some of the sand any time soon? I would like to get a few bags.

Thanks,
Richard

[racreel]

I went to the Home Depot in Madison today. The girl at the service desk called one of the stores in Louisville (they have several) and they said that they don't have any and that they don't carry it any more.

vett67, do you know which Louisville store they were getting yours from or who you spoke to at the Home Depot on the Parkway?

Thanks,
Richard

[vett67]

I don't remember any names, but there were several guys at the CONTRACTORS DESK in the NW corner of the store had no problem in locating it for me or my friend.

Woodie

[kng]

Woodie,

Did they charge you shipping or a store transfer fee? I always heard they tagged that on, instead of just charging $4.99 a bag. Maybe you got lucky!

Richard,

Let me know if it looks like you can get this. I'd like to go in on some with you too. I need enough for my 65 AGA RR, with a couple of bags for the refugium and spares.

Thanks,
-Kyle

[racreel]

Woodie,

Did you have to pay for it up front?

Kyle,

I will probably go by some time this week to see if I can get some. How much would you want? I plan to try to get 5 bags for myself.

Richard

[JimW]

I am the friend of Woodie who also had HD order for me.
I spoke with Tamara at the special services desk at HD on the parkway and gave her the sku number. I cant find the store numbers, but I think there were two in Louisville that carried the Southdown. The one it came from was Clarksville Ky, just north of Louisville.(Dont hold me to this but if memory serves me it is store #1133) Didnt have to pay up front and only paid $5.00 per bag. I hope this helps.

Jim

[kng]

racreel,
If they are $5 a bag I would be interested in 5 bags also. (Maybe a couple more...but I'll take what I can get! :) )

What size tank are you setting up? How far are you in the design/gathering parts?

-Kyle

[vett67]

I talked to a salesman at the PRO desk yesterday and he indicated that if there was enough interest they might
"unofficially stock" a pallet for us. So let your interest be known.

[racreel]

Kyle,

I hope to get by the Home Depot some time today. If I find someone who can get it, I will tell them 10 bags, 5 for me, 5 for you.

I'm planning on a 50 gallon. I am in the research phase right now, haven't purchased yet.

Richard

[racreel]

Finally got someone at the Home Depot that had a clue! :rollface:

Went to the Home Depot on the Parkway. Joni at the service desk helped me. The sand is coming from store #2302, Dixie Hwy. in Louisville, KY.

Kyle,
Sent you a PM.

Richard

[Westpat]

To clarify, the reason they are funny with the aquarium use is that the sand producers hav an agreement with CaribSea that they will disclaim their product as not for aquarium use.

Even if it says that just make sure it is cacium carbonate based.

Someone here or elsewhere made the point that the CaCO3 will fizz in vinegar and a silica based sand won't. I think that is valid being that white vinegar reacts violently with baking soda, which is very similar.

David

[ShagMan]

Can somebody please do me a huge favor and hit me up with some details, SKU, etc.? I need about 400 lbs. of this stuff for a large aquarium, and I happen to be located in Mobile, AL.

[JimW]

Originally posted by ShagMan
Can somebody please do me a huge favor and hit me up with some details, SKU, etc.? I need about 400 lbs. of this stuff for a large aquarium, and I happen to be located in Mobile, AL.

SouthDown Tropical Play Sand
SKU # 578-819
UPC # 0-210026-16865-5
Model # 420-100

Try these numbers.
Jim

[SEA YOU LATER]

Racreel,

You have mail,

Sea You Later

[kng]

Richard (racreel),

Thanks again for getting me 5 bags of Southdown/Yardright sand!! You got some frags coming your way!

I was just going to let you know that I did the Vinegar test and got hundreds of little bubbles! Definately some chemical reaction going on...this is the stuff!!!

-Kyle

[Tomoko Schum]

So you guys got the sand from HD on South Parkway? Did they charge any handling fees? I think I would like to get a couple of bags myself now. Did they get any extra bags along with yours?

Tomoko

[racreel]

Kyle,
You're very welcome. It was great meeting you. I did the vinegar test as soon as I got home. Strange seeing sand react! :D

Tomoko,
They only had the ten that I had asked for. There was no handling charge. Here is the info on who I spoke to and where it came from. The folks there have noted that they have had this stuff transferred a couple of times recently. :cool:

Originally posted by racreel
Joni at the service desk helped me. The sand is coming from store #2302, Dixie Hwy. in Louisville, KY.


Richard

[Tomoko Schum]

Thanks, Richard. Hope they don't mind getting just a few bags. Does anyone else need the sand?

Tomoko

[H@rry]

Can either one of you look down in the bottom left corner of the bag (I think) and see a small white square where the vendor puts their address and see if it came from PA?

[kng]

Harry,

Yes, it is from Easton, PA.

Who all on in is using Southdown/Yardright sand. I don't plan to have a DSB...more like 2-3 inches in my 65. This stuff has a broad range of particle size. Some of it is pretty fine. Are there any problems asssociated with this? I don't want a dust cloud from this stuff.

-Kyle

[H@rry]

From my understanding, you will get the dust cloud initially and then clear up in a day or so. If you were to rinse it you would lose a lot of the finer material. IMO the finer "dust" should be the first and easiest to dissolve and begin the buffering effect you bought aroganite for to start with.

[greenbean36191]

I read a thread about how to prevent the dust storm last night right before I read this. I tried to find it again but I couldn't but here is basicly what the guy did:
Lay a trash bag over the top of the sand and put a small bowl on top of the trash bag in the center of the tank. Use some tubing to siphon the water from your mixing container into the bowl. The important part is to use the tubing. Some people said they tried this method except they just poured the water into the bowl straight from the container and they got a dust storm.
If all of that is too much work you could just let the dust storm happen and then put some powerheads in the tank. From what I hear though SD dust storms take alot longer to clear up than normal sand.

[speakeraddict]

Does anyone here have an extra bag or two or Southdown?

I live in huntsville and am setting up a 29 gallon reef for my wife.
(she is jealous of my 2 gallon and 55 gallon tanks)

Please help.

speakeraddict

[Tomoko Schum]

Speakeraddict,

I need a two bags of Southdown myself. Would you like to order them together from Home Depot on South Memorial Parkway like other guys did?

Tomoko/lilbit

[speakeraddict]

Yes!

Let me know when.

Did you get my message about the macro algae?

Thanks,
speakeraddict

[jpsx3]

Hey guys,

I have a deep sand bed which I created partially with 6 bags of Southdown.

My suggestion would be to take half a bag at a time and rise it in a 5 gal bucket. I triple rinsed mine working the sand each time with my hands real good.

With the very first rinse you will see why it is good to rinse the sand. There is alot of foamy substance which comes out of the sand and once this gets in your tank it will not just take days but WEEKS for your water to clear. I also got lazy on my last couple of bags and had the foamy substance bubbling out of my protien skimmer.

[EvilMel]

Hey so can you add this southdown sand to an existing/fully stocked tank?

Probably in small quantities with rinsing right?

My sand bed is getting less and less deep (due to siphoning while water changing and larger particles breaking down). So I was thinking to add some of the home depot play sand (only the recommended stuff of course, not just any play sand).

Anyone know if this would be a problem?

Btw I was looking at you guys' board because my husband has relatives that live in Huntsville and we are actually going there in 3 weeks. I thought I would check to see if there are any reefers in HSV. Of course I have not been to any of the LFSs in HSV in years (we used to live there in 1997-8).

Mel
(from the East TN Reef Club!)

[JimW]

I rinsed 50lbs at a time and added 300lbs in one afternoon to my established system. Moved most everything to one side and did half the tank at a time. The Instant Ocean bucket is just the right size for one bag at a time.
Many say not to rinse due to loss of small particle size, but after seeing the mess just a cup or so of the sand produced (very cloudy for a few hours) I opted to rinse and go with no ill effects.
Hope this helps , Jim

[Westpat]

Hey Paul,
How are things going? I know you have had a busy summer, but I hope to drop by again and see how the mighty tank is progressing.

David

[racreel]

Originally posted by jwjwfour
I rinsed 50lbs at a time and added 300lbs in one afternoon to my established system. Moved most everything to one side and did half the tank at a time. The Instant Ocean bucket is just the right size for one bag at a time.
Many say not to rinse due to loss of small particle size, but after seeing the mess just a cup or so of the sand produced (very cloudy for a few hours) I opted to rinse and go with no ill effects.
Hope this helps , Jim

Do you guys use regular tap water to rinse the sand?

Richard

[speakeraddict]

I use it to rinse mine.

The tap water treatment should take care of any residual chlorine/chloramine.

speakeraddict

[JimW]

I just put a bag of sand in a bucket and ran a garden hose down into it. Let the water fill the bucket and flow over the top for a few minutes until it runs clear. Then add tap water treatment, stir, pour off water and add to tank.

Jim

[Tomoko Schum]

Hi y'all,

I just go through to the right person at HD. The guy (not Joni this time) took down all the info and he told me that he will let me know the tentative arrival time shortly. Anyone else (besides Speakeraddict, Chris B and me) needing the sand?

Tomoko

[H@rry]

Yeah, I could take a couple of bags if it's really aragonite.

[speakeraddict]

Woohoo!

Thanks Tomoko!

I will be glad when the search is over.

speakeraddict

[Tomoko Schum]

A guy by the name of David in Building material department (HD right behind Toys-R-Us on University Dr.) is working on the transfer. Joni evidently washed her hands of the sand transfer activities. David is supposedly making some phone calls to various HD stores to get the amount I requested. So stay tuned.

Tomoko

[ChrisB]

Tomoko,
I talked with David (HD) just a minute ago and had him up my quantity to 1200 lbs. He said he was in the process of getting the remainder of the Louisville stash, which is only 640 lbs, so I gave him the store number of another HD that has a bunch of it. It is further than Louisville, but they said if David contacted them they would be glad to transfer any amount he needed. He said he would take care of it.
I'm crossing my fingers and rubbing my lucky rabbits foot. :)

[speakeraddict]

Great!

Let me know when it gets here.

I will buy at least 5 bags as I am going to be doing the aragocrete project.

Don't forget that everyone can join me at my place to make their own.

Steven

[Tomoko Schum]

Chris B, Speakeraddict, and Harry the troll -

Got the words from David at HD this morning. They are getting the whole pallet (48 bags) of Southdown Tropical Play Sand for us. They will arrive sometime in the middle of the next week! So keep checking with HD at the intersection of Memorial Parkway and University drive (behind Toys-R-Us and Books-A-Million).

Tomoko

[speakeraddict]

Woohoo!

Good work.

Thanks,
Steven

[ChrisB]

Yippeee!!!


Nice job!

[Tomoko Schum]

The information Vett67 and jwjwfour provided really came in handy. (Thanks, guys!) If I am not mistaken, David said that they decided to carry the sand.

Tomoko

[H@rry]

Kewl! Thanx for all the leg work.

[pioneerlog]

Great Thread guys. I'm a Nashville Reefer, and at the beginning stages of 2 - 120 gal. reefs. ( 1 is for my brother-in-law, which is funding mine)
How many # , in your expertise :D , would it take for a 3-4" sand bed in a 120 (24x48)??
Do you know what store in Louisville the sand is comming from??

You have a good group happening. Ours is growing, but not to your level yet....

Geoff

[JimW]

Roughly 200-250 lbs should get you to the depth you want. I used 300lbs in a 125 and got about 5" sand bed.

Jim

[Tomoko Schum]

Hi guys,

The sand has come in. They got here on last Friday.

Tomoko

[speakeraddict]

I plan on getting mine tomorrow night!

BTW, the new HD on south parkway has phillips 6500K 40w tubes for $5.99 for two of them!

speakeraddict

[SEA YOU LATER]

Hello, speakeraddict, does HP carry any HO or VHO bulbs?

And by the way, it's valium

[speakeraddict]

I heard that the one on No. Pkwy. carries them occassionally but have not seen them.

I do know of a local lighting supplier that carries them at $11 ea.

speakeraddict

[SEA YOU LATER]

Ok thanks