Buzz_Hog said:
... The SD Milkshake has become the TRT drink of choice...
HMMMmmmm!!!!!:idea:
- one cup half and half
- 1 oz berry Stoli
- 1 oz. Kahlua
- 1 oz. SD milkshake (optional)
mix well, pour over cracked ice...:dance:
A lot of the info about the Southdown and the way they collect it is based on not only which site it comes from, but with whom you're speaking to about it (and some of the info has become urban legend, I am sure). A good deal of it comes into their site in Jacksonville, FL and is NOT treated with ANYTHING to prevent if from blowing away (the stuff is literally
dirt cheap, any other treatments just add unnecessary costs to the product). Yes, they do use machinery to collect, sort, transport, bag and distrubute the raw product. Adding any oils, settling agents, etc., makes the product unsuitable for use as an aggregate in construction (the primary business of Cemex who owns the Southdown trademark now is construction aggregates and concrete/cement manufacture), and yes, I have
personally spoken with the folks at Cemex about how they process their sands.
As an aquarium product, the fines in the sand are desirable, as they increase the surface area of the substrate as a potential biological medium and drive the initial Ca and alk levels up (although once they gain the biofilm coating, this effect becomes minimal, and the pH of most aquaria is not low enough to adequately dissolve the CaCO3 to maintain this level of Ca/.Alk). Just to assure myself, I will be running a sample of the sand through an acidified bath to dissolve the CaCO3 and then run the sample through a GC to see if their is a hydrocarbon peak. BTW, putting this sand through a sieve is of little benefit, and actually, unless you're spreading it out in the sun to dry, next to impossible.
I have a large amount of this sand in the aquarium systems that I keep, never had any problems associated with strange/toxic additives in these systems, and the water column always clears within a week or two. The addition of sources of live sand helps to accelerate this process. Running a skimmer helps, although it does leave a great deal of sediment in the skimmer. The use of a paper filter will polish the water in a system that still has the opalescence in the final stages of clearing, I have had crystal crear water in 3 days, although I have also had it take as long as 2 weeks when allowed to run unattended and unaided.
Southdown rooles! everything else...
