is silica safe

Discussion in 'Sand' started by skyvern2130, Jun 29, 2012.

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  1. skyvern2130

    skyvern2130 Stylophora

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    Igot 100lbs of silica sasnd that is used for pool filters and im not goingto use it as my base main sand it going to form the base 1-2 inches of substrate and the last 1 inch would be true livesand that is aragonite. Can I do this an I know silica is safe if boiled and rinsed really good, any tips on it and trying to do this as cheap as possible
     
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  3. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    Many use silica as their substrate with no real issues.
     
  4. Reef Breeders

    Reef Breeders 3reef Sponsor

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    I thought that silica sand caused algae outbreaks? I wouldn't risk it.
     
  5. skyvern2130

    skyvern2130 Stylophora

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    Yes I heard it could if thats a big if, you dont rinse it and have a good clean up crew, and plus with a refug wouldnt it pull the nutrients out of the water needed for the algea to grow
     
  6. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    Silica is associated with diatom outbreaks but once the biological filter establishes in the sand the biofilm coats the sand and ends any issues.
     
  7. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    Interesting side point of silica based sand is that some hobbyist confuse silica based sand as leaching silicates into the aquarium due it being silicate based. This is a urban legend and is false. Silica based sand is composed of rocks that have been ground down into very small particles some the size of dust and some the size of a small pebble. It's "mostly" Quartz (SiO2) which is water insoluable.

    There is the chance that this form of sand could have hard metal deposits that could leach into the tank. While the sand of the oceans are derived from this exact process (the slow erosion of rocks from rain and weather). The majority of the sand that can be purchased is man made sand. Since this process occurs 1 million times faster than the natural erosion process the potential of hard metals or other sediments could still exist in this sand. In a natural erosion process all these products are rinsed away well before we got to it.

    This man made process can leave us with a dirtier product and could be the reason for silicates in this type sand. But it's not actually inherent due to using silicia sands... it's due to using low quality sand. Some silicia based sands don't have this side effect, but most do.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2012
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  9. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    From advanced aquarist:

    "If you start with true beach sand, and don’t fracture it much, then it is very likely that you will detect little dissolution of silica from it in a few days (although I’ve not tried it), because most of the readily dissolved minerals would have disappeared long ago (or are trapped inside). But commercial play sands are not typically from beaches, and are not collected with any kind of gentleness. They are often mined from sand pits, crushed, screened, and generally treated rather roughly. This serves to break many of the grains, exposing new mineral inclusions that are then primed to dissolve. This source is, in my opinion, where most of the soluble silica comes from in “silica” sand."


    Now, none of this really affects you all in all. But I figure you should know why to be scared of silica based sands rather than worrying about myths.
     
  10. m2434

    m2434 Giant Squid

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    1) Silica sand can release silica
    2) Silica in an established aquarium is used up quickly
    3) I've never seen a diatom problem in an established aquarium (assuming it has not crashed recently and had another cycle), even in tanks where silica is dosed, such as mine :)