SD Trop Play Sand - Cleveland,OH Update

[schrodi]

I just bought 4 50lb bags of SunDown Tropical Play Sand at a Home Depot near here for $3.59 a bag. And I kid you not - they have roughly 8 pallets (!!!) full of the stuff. And I know for sure it is there because I just left it.

However (very important!) - they did intentionally walk up to me and ask what I planned on doing with the sand. The sales associate walked a long way to check me out. I told him that I was gonna use it for around a swing set. They asked me if maybe it might be a little early in the year to be playing out in the yard - in the snow and all. I said - "no, I always plan things way in advance". The salesperson said no more and I walked out of Home Depot with a big smile on my face. In any case, they WILL NOT sell it to you if you tell them if it's for your aquarium - and they ARE actively questioning you to see what you are using it for.

In any case, please be discrete because we don't want to mess this up for other fellow reefers. The stores address is as follows:

Home Depot
6199 Wilson Mills Road
Highland Heights, Ohio
(suburb of Cleveland, Ohio)

thanks,
keith in Ohio

[Aaron Shelley]

What does HD care what I use my sand for? If I want to build a beach or dump it in an aquarium... who cares?!!

They don't ask if I'm gonna drink the Round-up or spray weeds so why ask about sand;)

Just curious.

[schrodi]

Because SouthDown and Caribsea both get their sand from the same source, and SouthDown has an agreement with Caribsea not to sell their sand for aquarium use (Caribsea sells their sand for aquarium use for $30 or so dollars for a 30lb bag)

(Am paraphrasing from David Grigor, Ninong, and many others - thanks guys!)

[Aaron Shelley]

Still seems odd. Is it Southdowns job to not sell it to the aquarium industry and its suppliers/distributors or is it HD's job to quiz every customer buying a bag of sand?

[LiquidShaneo]

Well, that seems kinda strange b/c I've read posts where people have actually called up Southdown and order 5 gal pails full of the sand and had them shipped to them. It was more expensive -- like $20 for a 5 gal bucket -- but it was still cheaper than buying the CaribSea stuff. They didn't question me when I bought the stuff from that store so it seems kinda strange...

Heh...Beat this: I drove out of that store 4 months ago with 15 bags of the stuff. :D Try fitting 800 lbs of sand in an 1986 Oldsmobile Regency Brome 98. Let me just say that I had to strategically place sand bags all around the car so I wasn't bottoming out on my 3 hour drive home. I actually had to have a sandbag underneath my seat to level things out. It was interesting let me tell you... :D

liquid

[jameso]

Well Shane, you said it all. Home Depot didn't used to question ppl, but due to the indiscreet inquirys of hobbiests (direct calls to Southdown) HD has been advised that they will be BUSTED if they knowingly sell it for aquarium use. Makes sense, if you consider that they have a legal agreement w/ Caribsea for them to be the exclusive aquarium distributor.

To top it off, Southdown raised their prices on the stuff IF you try to buy it from them for aquarium use....from like $3 to $20...a 700% markup. That is a direct result of their "catching on."

It's pretty simple really. If you go to buy this stuff at home depot, tell them it's for a sandbox. If you tell them it's for an aquarium, you are just spoiling it for everybody.

Cheers
James

[LiquidShaneo]

Very interesting James. I had never heard that before but it makes sense. I'm just glad I found the stuff in Ohio... :D No one said a peep to me when I got it either. I was the only one out in the "back 40" for almost 30 minutes while I looked around and proceeded to fill my cart up...

liquid

[phatty phish]

rolmao at liquid!!
You are too funny man! Where did you get your sand from? :D

-Phatty

[LiquidShaneo]

phatty phish: my father-in-law still gives me a hard time about that 3 hour trip... lol

I got my Southdown sand the same place as schrodi did:

Home Depot
6199 Wilson Mills Road
Highland Heights, Ohio
(suburb of Cleveland, Ohio)

They were the only store in the Cleveland area that even carried it when I called about it a couple months ago.

liquid