The Puffer Forum

What is the difference between argonite and regular beach sand? Im thinking about going to the beach this weekend and was wondering if I could just scoop up some sand in my 5gal bucket and bring it home to my tank

and it do the same for PH buffering that argonite does

Firstly, aragonite is a mineral; beach sand conatains many minerals. So I think a more appropriate question would be, "Does beach sand contain aragonite?" I don't know. But, do be careful when taking sand from the beach. Don't let the gamewarden (or whoever patrols your local beach), see you. On a lot of beaches it's illegal to take the sand as it's usually imported. The one benefit from using beach sand that I can think of would be all of the beneficial organisms in it. BUT, they would all die when you bake it to kill parasites. So, IMO it's merely free playsand. Hopefully RTR or somebody that knows what they're talking about will chime in, lol.

Ohk I have been seeing IMO all around the TPF what does IMO mean?



If you can not decide between the two like me I mixed them half and half

IMO=In My Opinion


And thanks Ipuff, I didnt realize that argonite was a mineral. Thought it was a type of sand

Np Xray, like I said hopefully somebody will jump in and better answer your question.

Aragonite sand is a form of calcium carbonate and I believe that beach sand could either be calcium carbonate sand or silica sand so you would have to get a lab test to find out which?

Beach sand, like "aquarium salt" is an undefined product. It may be aragonite in part, or it may be largely silica sand (and thus inert).

In any case, it is undefined and in this country illegal to remove from all the beaches of which I am aware. Plus it is very heavily contaminated with organics and petroleum residues. The clean-up would be more work than is justified by the cost savings. The life forms you put in the tank will be at risk. Don't use it.

I use only aragonite for BW and SW, because its solubility is the highest of the available substrates and most appropriate for BW and SW use. And it is legal and relatively clean.

HTH

To further RTR's point,

1 cubic meter of ANY substrate, be it sand, gravel or back yard soil, should contain in excess of 1000 life forms. Chances are that your beach sand does not. 90% of the time these are due to pollutants from the petro chemical industry. In the case of beaches, rovers and ATVs patrolling it, people depositing waste materials, etc.. in land use, it is farming exhausting the soils, petrol engines leaving their dripping behind and pesticides.

If you want to go cheap, interesting and possibly illegal, find a SW wetland or a tide pool that is full of life. Take a small sample and see if it has the critters both large and small.

alright cool, thanks for the info

fahucker wrote:Ohk I have been seeing IMO all around the TPF what does IMO mean?

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