A dip into the local knowledge pool

[digital-audiophile]

Alas, I couldn't tell you the name, it was a couple years ago I tried this and I already had the sand in the house from another unrealted project. I think the problem was that it was too fine of a paticle so the water was really murky and even after a week it never calmed down with the flow on (I was using a modded AC500 and a seio on that time)

It almost seemed like the sand molecules bonded with the h20 and there were whispy clumps of sand constantly in the water.

[howdy20012002]

they do have different types
the type I use is the light beige colour and is a more coarse grade of sand.
I can understand why if it was really fine that it would cause problems.
was it the white sand? cuz I remember them having some that was white which was much more finer than what I bought.

[IceTurf]

hmm ok since you have had experience with this sand, what is a good type of hard-ware store sand to get for salt tanks? What sized particle should I avoid?

[michika]

Try to avoid extremely fine sand. The smallest you probably want to cosider going is something the consistency of white sugar.

[IceTurf]

hmmk tks for advice

[mr_alberta]

Some of the "playsand" contained silica in it I thought which could cause algae blooms? I thought I read that a while back. I could be wrong though.

[IceTurf]

sigh... anyone know if silica causes algae blooms?

[Matt]

Almost all commercial sand is silicate. Silicates grow diatoms. Diatoms are ugly. Therefore, don't use silicate sand in a reef aquarium. I'd also worry about what else was in "commercial grade" sandbox sand. Tons of things that wouldn't worry a kid will be bad for a reef.