Argh! "Live sand" is silica based :(

[JazzcatCB]

Today I went and purchased a nano-reef setup from a fish store 50 miles away. They are a wholesale store that just started selling to the public. They had live sand for .99/lb. and I thought that was a great buy, so I bought 40 lbs. But when I got home and started putting the sand into my tank, I realized that it was SILICA based, not ARAGONITE! Argghh!

Will this reduce the effectiveness of the live sand? I was planning on putting a jawfish in the tank, but I guess that's out now Furthermore, I was anticipating calcium leeched from the aragonite dsb to contribute to my tank's calcium levels, but I guess that's out now too.

DAMN! Why the hell didn't I think to check before I bought it! *kicks self until bloody*

 

[Anonymous]

So..........
I've been using silica sand in many of my tanks for over 40 years.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Anonymous]

The Silica is fine as long as it's pure Silica, the sand grains are small, and the grains don't have jagged edges (crushed sand). The amount of Calcium and Carbonate "leeched" from an Aragonite sand bed is measurable but fairly insignificant on the grand scale of things.

 

[JazzcatCB]

Well, I called the FS owner where I bought the sand from and asked him what kind of sand it is. He said that it is a mixture of Bahama, Fiji, and Florida beach sand with 10% aragonite.

My main concern is whether a jawfish will be able to burrow in this stuff. Does anyone know?

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I called the FS owner where I bought the sand from and asked him what kind of sand it is. He said that it is a mixture of Bahama, Fiji, and Florida beach sand with 10% aragonite.

My main concern is whether a jawfish will be able to burrow in this stuff. Does anyone know?

Grain size is important here, you want a variety - not just super fine particles.

 

[Anonymous]

Jawfish also like to line their burrow with little bits of reef rubble. You can make some by smashing some base rock (even dry rock). I used to enjoy watching my Jawfish and Pistol Shrimp steal pebbles from each other. Pretty comical.

 

[JazzcatCB]

Well, I called the FS owner where I bought the sand from and asked him what kind of sand it is. He said that it is a mixture of Bahama, Fiji, and Florida beach sand with 10% aragonite.

My main concern is whether a jawfish will be able to burrow in this stuff. Does anyone know?

Grain size is important here, you want a variety - not just super fine particles.

I'm thinking about mixing in about 5 lbs. of coarse aragonite in with my 19 lbs. of "beach" sand. Do you think this would help?

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I called the FS owner where I bought the sand from and asked him what kind of sand it is. He said that it is a mixture of Bahama, Fiji, and Florida beach sand with 10% aragonite.

My main concern is whether a jawfish will be able to burrow in this stuff. Does anyone know?

Grain size is important here, you want a variety - not just super fine particles.

I'm thinking about mixing in about 5 lbs. of coarse aragonite in with my 19 lbs. of "beach" sand. Do you think this would help?

Along with this

Jawfish also like to line their burrow with little bits of reef rubble. You can make some by smashing some base rock (even dry rock). I used to enjoy watching my Jawfish and Pistol Shrimp steal pebbles from each other. Pretty comical.

 

[Anonymous]

I really thought that silicate sands were something to avoid because of a theoretical link between silicates and algae growth. Not saying that this is a fact or not, just curious.

 

[Anonymous]

I really thought that silicate sands were something to avoid because of a theoretical link between silicates and algae growth. Not saying that this is a fact or not, just curious.

The sand in the tank for this case is probably Silica sand, unrelated to silicate. If the silica were to dissolve it could form silicate but it dissolves at about the same rate as a glass aquarium.

 

[Anonymous]

Burrowing in aquariums almost never works like it does in nature. The substrate of the ocean is vastly different from that of your aquarium. The short story of it is that your aquarium lacks long-term sediment buildup (muck) and organic detritus such as roots and leaves that often reinforces/stabilizes a burrow.

The difference can be observerved in how burrowing species construct a home in the wild or in your aquarium. In the wild, burrows are often actually tube shaped, the walls don't "cave in" when sediment is removed. In an aquarium, your burrowing species will likely excavate a shallow pit underneath a ledge of live rock. You can watch them working to keep it clean as your substrate collapses and slides in. At first I thought it must frustrate them, but then I decided it gives them something to do. It's job security.

 

[Apophis924]

If silica based sand is so bad for reef tanks, then why do not all glass tanks have problems related to silica, what ius glass made of? what is its major componet? Seems to me the cilia sand thing is over rated. I know a few peo0ple that use beach sand and have had no problems. Granbted they are very detailed and consistant with maintenance and water changes which leads me to think The problem with beach sand is mor a mater of maintenance rather than the actual chemical compostion of the sand bed.

 

[skylsdale]

Silica and silicate. There's a difference.