old castle sand

[paulpp187]

is this good or bad for a reef tank hd is no longer carring sothdown but has replaced it with old castle my question is can i put it in my tank a local hd has like 100 bags

 

[stang8s]

Southdown has always been owned and made by old castle same company. They are just now using the old castle name on the bag. You want the white sand that says from the caribian on the bag, they make several sands.

 

[paulpp187]

ya the lady i talked to said it was white sand hahhaha then that means go i'm going to buy like 20 bags that way i know i have x-tra

 

[Ray]

they also have white sand that has silica in it, becareful

 

[CamaroJWeed]

The sand you want...and I know this is going to sound wrong...is the bag that says "not for aquaium use" There a hundreds of huge threads about this on RC which you could read if you wanted but the reason they put that warning is not because the sand has silica in it, but because the equipment used touched silica material and then processed that sand, so there is a chance trace amounts of silica could be present (Quality control of sand just isn't what it used to be...) so to protect themselves the company put the warning on the bag...

I would buy a bunch if I was you...where is the HD at, I need to pick some up and most of the CT people have been asking who has it in stock...

Thanks

Jason

 

[NanoReefer]

I sifted my southdown (old castle) through a series of screens and found a lot of junk (I remixed the different sized particles after). Bits and pieces of leaves or other organic material. Also I found dark oily clumps which I removed (I belive it may have been hydraulic fluid or something from the processing equipment), I feel that warning on the bag may be for more than silicates. I used the sand anyway with no ill effects, but I feel we should more closely monitor what we are putting in our tanks. The price is hard to beat especially when you need a coupla hundred pounds, but for all the time and cash into this a little screening of sand unapproved for aquarium use may save big down the road.

This is my opinion and I know thousands of people have used SD with no ill effect but I won't use southdown again without screening it carefully. I would hate to think that all these DSB crashes with southdown is because it was never graded for our use and has nasties in it.
Again this is my personal experience and opinion and I used the Southdown after screening with no problem.....well some hair algae but that was my own fault, and I got that on the run.

The one you want should also say [size=-1]Carribiean Play Sand, it should be a pure white sand that should look very fine. If it is beige and/or looks glassy or like crushed quartz don't bother, old castle should not be shiny or glossy or be anything other than white.
[/size]

 

[willray]

They had (other hd's as well)this 2 months ago. it not the same.I hope i am wrong.3 stores told me the same thing. that is was fine white sand.turned out to be for tracktion/fill ect....