Sand bed question

[Knowledgeseeker]

is it a good idea to use home depot type play sand for a sand bed?

 

[wrightme43]

Depends on if its aragonite sand or silicate sand. Silicate doesnt really work very well.

 

[Knowledgeseeker]

what about the silicate makes it not so good

 

[wrightme43]

sharp, no pore area, doesnt buffer, can add silicate to the tank which helps diatoms grow. packs pretty solid and is not a great bio filter. Just my opinon though. Steve

 

[shallowreef]

I just put a bag of Arag alive in my tank. Its very fine lookin similar to silicate. is it ok or not so good.

 

[mungus]

Its good. It usually a little bit more expensive than the standard argonite sand but, it has some dormant bactieria that can speed up the cycling process.

 

[Blazer88]

I wasn't able to find any decent sand at my local HD and ended up getting aragonite from the LFS. I've heard play sand isn't the best idea.