finch6013 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Is silicate sand in a reef tank a bad thing? My wife got some sugar sand and added it to the tank. When I looked at the package it didn't say anything about being aragonite. I assume its a silicate type of sand. It is sold by carribsea and says that its reef safe but that doesn't convince me. If it is silicate, is it bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 can cause diatom blooms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 and has little or no buffering capacity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 Hmmm.... I really don't want to end up scooping all this stuff out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Yes you can use silica sand with no problems in a reef tank. I don't think it will cause diatoms due to the fact that the sand would have to dissolve to feed those diatoms, and the amount of force needed to dissolve a granule of silica would demolish your tank first. Besides, the glass holding the water and critters in your tank is silica! But if that isn't enough to sway you, silica isn't a bad thing in our tanks. Randy Holmes-Farley actually doses silicates into his reef tanks. But as Jody stated, it will not help with buffering at all. Another argument is that the granules are more jagged than round, creating a slightly harder substrate for things like fish and snails to penetrate. But i don't think this has any effect on our livestock, i mean our beaches here in Oregon are silica and they are teeming with life. I use white silica sand for all the LR i make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SALTY Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 take a little out of the tank and put viniger on it if it foams up it is aragonite sand if its silicate it will not do anything my friend showed me this trick and if you read on reefcentral there a post about doing that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.R Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 take a little out of the tank and put viniger on it if it foams up it is aragonite sand if its silicate it will not do anything my friend showed me this trick and if you read on reefcentral there a post about doing that Neat little trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 I did some more research on the sand she got. It is silica but supposedly caribsea says that it's a rounded grain that will not effect sand dwellers. I guess I will give it a try and see how I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 do you think that the live rock would work for the buffing part? i know the stuff you are talking about- the petco 6.50 per 10lb bag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 I am not that concerned about the buffing part. I dose for everything my tank consumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I went to Willamette greystone and got 100 lbs for $8.00 recommended by impur and it has worked great mixed in with sand in all 4 tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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