Where can I get Southdown?

[reefguy]

I'm thinking about putting southdown in my aquarium because I think the other sand I got is too fine, so if anybody knows where I can get some it would be appreciated.

Thanks
Chip

[StephenA]

Has anyone ever used this product?

http://store.yahoo.com/safesand/

[GaryP]

Chip,

There's a guy from Cleburne that brings Southdown down here if there is enough for him to make the trip. Check the vendor forum for a thread.

In the future, the vendor forum would be the appropriate place for this kind of post.

Thanks,
Gary

[StephenA]

reefguy, go here:
http://www.cleburnemarine.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=28&osCsid=d892de64904 21d654369d64ff6665622

I emailed him today and he was out. As soon as he gets some I'm heading up there. I need about 150lbs.

[StephenA]

I found this. http://www.yardright.com/sand.htm Seems to be the new version of Southdown. It retails for $3.99 for 40lbs.

[SBreef]

I have looked all around the North side of San Antonio, and can not find Southdown or Yardright! But I will keep looking!

[captexas]

Acclaim96 - don't waste your time looking here. Southdown is mostly on the east coast as it comes from the carribean. The sand found around here is locally produced by Quickcrete. The only way to get Southdown/Yardright is to purchase it by the pallet and pay a lot for shipping or have a local Home Depot try to get some transfered from another store on the east coast. Several people have attemted this with little success. Your best bet is to get it from Cleburne when he gets it back in stock.

[SBreef]

I was planning on doing just that, when the time comes!!!

[GaryP]

We were able to get it cheap when we lived in Charlotte. That's where most of mine came from. Apparently, its the exact same thing as most of the stuff sold as aragonite thru the LFS's. SouthDown is sold as playground sand at a much lower price. The funny thing is that the bags are labelled as "not for aquarium use." Basically its the difference between generic and specialty pricing. They are just trying to protect the "premium" prices they charge for aquarium products. Just another example of how we get stuck with higher prices as a result of our dedication to our hobby. OK, I'll get off my soap box now.

I'm trying to work on a deal now to get MH bulbs through a friend that is in the commercial lighting busines. A similar situation exists there.

Gary

[captexas]

I read once before that the play sand is not kept as clean as the sand for aquarium use. As it is used in much greater quantities, they handle it differently, including spraying a light oil on it to keep it from blowing away during transport in dump trucks. Of course this may just be something they put out there for marketing purposes as well to get you to buy the more expensive stuff at a LFS.

Gary - I believe most commercial lighting MH lamps are only 4500 to 5500k. Of course they are less expensive because they are so mass produced. If your friend can find better color producing bulbs, it would be interesting to see the price without the usual aquatic use mark up we find.

[GaryP]

He has told me he can get any bulbs, or brands we want at commercial prices. Even though he is not a hobbyist, he understood exactly what I was talking about whenI started talking about the different K values. He is the electrician that does all the lighting at the Austin airport and is starting a side business doing other commercial lighting applications.

His approach was 10K is 10K, regardless of application. I can't really argue that point. I was going to give him some info and see what he can come up with. I need to replace my Blueline 10K's. I am very unhappy with them. They look great, but my corals don't really care for them. I think they are actually more like a 12-14K.

Gary

[::pete::]

Has anyone ever figured the actual shipping? There are @ 250 bags @ 6.00ea. at the HD around the coner.

[matt]

The blueline 10K vs. ushio 10k is a good example of how innacurate the color temp rating of bulbs actually is. And, it's likely that the units of measurement on commercial bulbs is not applicable to aquarium use. Who cares about PAR or PPFD other than reefkeepers? Maybe horticultural users do, but they don't typically care about the color these bulbs make their plants appear. I think your effort is going to be an experiment in that you'll just have to try the bulbs in a reef setting before you know how they do. Good luck with it; I'm a bit skeptical because there's a huge market for good cheap bulbs in the aquarium hobby, and I would think one of the retailers would have found some sort of cheap source if it were available. But, if it works out, great!

[captexas]

Why sell a good bulb cheap when you can sell a good bulb for $70 to $100? Supply vs. demand. Why sell a Cadillac for $30,000 when you can get $40,000? Unless a manufacturer goes crazy and floods the market with inexpensive quality bulbs, they will keep the prices up as long as they can.

[GaryP]

Yes, that was the analogy I was trying to make with the Southdown.

Why sell a 50# bag for $6, when you can sell a 20# bag for $18. Does anyone really think that they only make these bulbs for reefkeepers? The exact same thing is being sold for other applications. The trick is to find the commercial name for the bulb. The same thing applies to pumps. Iwaki did not design their pump for aquariums. Its a chemical transfer pump. A lot of the other pumps were designed as sewage sump pumps. Anybody looked at sump pumps at HD? The 2000 gal. pumps they sell for $50 sure look a lot like the ones we pay $150 for.

Gary

[StephenA]

My HD mix pump works great and I only paid $35. It was in the pond section, It's twice as strong as my $100 Powerhead.

[MikeP]

Slightly OT but Gary - have you seen the 13k Geissman / Megachrome bulbs that Aquatek carries? I repalced my AB 10ks and single 20k with 3 of these and am thrilled with the color.