Bomix sand
 

Hi.
I was wondering if any one has used this sand. It is pool filtration sand (sold by Rona).
-There was some doubt as to whether or not pool filtration sand was silica based or not.

-any comments welcomed.

Michael

IYWMO I would go to your LFS and pay the $29 for a 30lb bag of aragonite sugar sand-least that way it's 100% safe and it's not expensive at a $1 a pound!

cheers, sumpfinfishe

Maybe his lfs doesn't have aragonite at a $1/lb. None of ours do.

Many people have successfully used silica based sand for beds including sandblasting types. The problem is the fact that there is no buffering capabilties like argonite sand which helps maintain ph and alk. Now if you are using calc reactors, driping kalk etc., to keep the levels up,problem solved. If not, I would spend the extra on the argonite.

What buffering would argonite provide ?

Cheers

Argonite slowly disolves releasing calcium and carbonates into your water. If you ever wanted to keep an African Cichid tank, use crushed coral for a substrate and you would have PH 8+ and alk approx 14 without any other additives. Saltwater is a lot slower in reaction but your sandbed will shrink in time.

none of any measurable importance.. the benifit of the "sugar sand" is more the size and shape.. silica sand has sharp edges (sugar sand is smooth and oval shaped) and some "experts" feel that it is harder on the "bugs" that live and move througth the sand... I tend to agree with them.

Steve

If you set your PH in your calcium reactor to 8.0 - 8.4 ( typical reef tank ) how much of the argonite do you think will dissolve ?

Cheers

Agreed....I think it's about $50+ in Victoria for a 30# bag. :eek:

The Aragamax Sugar Sand is still selling for $29.95 at J&L's and that's the same price I paid two years ago :mrgreen:

Even if it was $50 a bag I would still pay the higher price.
IMO I think it's better off to pay the extra for the long term.
Besides, last time I checked-Silica sand is what hotels and resturants use in there ashtrays :rolleyes:

silica sand is very hard on the pods, in my main tank with argonite sand my pods reach huge sizes. In the silica sump and my 10g nano the pods are small and bristle worms barely noticable. The sand cuts them to pieces.

I don't have a reactor and have to replace about 15lbs a year to the bed in a 54gal softie tank. If its not dissolving and buffering, my crabs must be sweeping it under a rock :biggrin: .

No Jeff,

The copepods eat it.. Didn't you know that?

There's no buffering happening in a reef tank.. none at all. :rolleyes:

I've NEVER had to add sand due to it breaking down. It's all copepods. I am telling you..

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

:eek: yours do that to... I think mine were just weird.

seriously though there might be a little buffering going on but not enuf to stop a tank from crashing if not helped. there were sand comparasons done a while ago whare they set up tanks with the 3 different types of sand.. they all had PH crashes with in a time period and the results were that a sand bed will not buffer a tank enuf on its own.

if you think about it the place the desolving is happening it would be at the bottom of the sand bed, maybe a little makes it throught the sand to get into the water coulme but I would guess most of it is just turning to finer substances and remaining as your bottom layer of the sand bed. because they are breaking down into smaller particles they take up less space and compact a bit.. therefor your sand bed settles and "Appears" to be desolving.

If you would quite tearing them down you might have to :mrgreen:

Steve