# tarantulas



## Fennwick (Jun 21, 2007)

this is probably a stupid question, but can tarantulas be handled at all, or are they strictly a look and don't touch kind of pet? and does their venom have any effect on humans?
thanks.


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## mines bigger (Jun 21, 2007)

they can be handled but it is not recomended because they will stress easily


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## hornet (Jun 22, 2007)

no, handling is a big no-no, unless your a sucker for pain, adults have 1cm+ long fangs, they will not sit still they will run and possibly fall, if they fall from a height they generally crack open and die and also bits are very painful, my mate got done a few times up his arm, said it felt like it was on fire


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## stary boy (Jun 22, 2007)

hehehe i held a very tame one at a venom zoo place up here.... she was huge and quite happily got handled very regularly (about 10 times a day) for shows, all that was done is she sat on your palm and cupped your other hand half over her in front of her face so she didnt kamakazi it off your hand and yer, she was yet to bite (apparently, or maybe they were just trying to make me feel better about holding her) also would like to note they dont let visitors hold the animals i was doing it for a job which i wanted and got but it was a bit too far away


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## Retic (Jun 22, 2007)

The bird eating spiders we get here are considered fairly aggressive and I wouldn't handle one unless it's temperament was known.


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## grimbeny (Jun 22, 2007)

Stary was that a native tarantula? I think there r some pretty tame exotic ones.


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## stary boy (Jun 22, 2007)

grimbeny said:


> Stary was that a native tarantula? I think there r some pretty tame exotic ones.


 

yer pretty sure it was a local one... had been handled since it was teeny weeny apparantly and it was a BIG spider :shock:


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## hornet (Jun 22, 2007)

you cant tame spiders down so quite possibly an exotic species. There is always exceptions but i havenever seen a calm aussie t


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## stary boy (Jun 22, 2007)

hornet said:


> you cant tame spiders down so quite possibly an exotic species. There is always exceptions but i havenever seen a calm aussie t


 

your wrong


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## hornet (Jun 22, 2007)

why do you say that? spiders do have have the brain capacity to be tamed, some might be naturally a little more calm but if its agro thats how it stays


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## stary boy (Jun 22, 2007)

hornet said:


> why do you say that? spiders do have have the brain capacity to be tamed, some might be naturally a little more calm but if its agro thats how it stays


 

neither do hornets


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## hornet (Jun 22, 2007)

your correct, the only inverts that i know are intelligent are octopus. Spiders, scorps, roaches etc do not have the brain to learn that humans wont harm them so you cannot tame them, some species are naturally quite calm but as far as i know tghey are only new world t's, australia only had old world t's which are notoriuos for being agressive/defensive


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## bylo (Jun 22, 2007)

Some of my large tarantulas seem to be tame .
and others just want to bite


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## hornet (Jun 22, 2007)

Spiders don't have brains as such, unlike mammals. Their neural circuits are too simple for complex programs that taming entails.


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## stary boy (Jun 22, 2007)

hornet said:


> Spiders don't have brains as such, unlike mammals. Their neural circuits are too simple for complex programs that taming entails.


 

OHH just shoooshhh.... just like my snakes like cuddles, spiders like pats and thats all there is to it!


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## Reaper (Jun 22, 2007)

i have owned sevral t's now and every one of them has been xtreemly agro some particular u.s t's are very docile in nature and can be easily handled. but ours on the other hand are an agressive speciese. in saying that u can let it run on your hand and call that handling if your game, but good luck with that as i am pretty confident that if u try to handle one like they do in the states i would bet money on it that u will be tagged. and if u are so keen on patting one u are more then welcome to pat my girl heres the reaction you will get!! but do feel free:lol:




stary boy said:


> OHH just shoooshhh.... just like my snakes like cuddles, spiders like pats and thats all there is to it!


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

hay jst a questoin how many of u spider lovers keep funnel webs i hav caught a few and like the look oof them


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## Reaper (Jun 23, 2007)

i dont keep any, have also caught and released a few funnel-webs, the missus wont let me keep them:cry: as we have alot of freinds with kids and she dosnt trust them!! they do look awsome though especially the the big females!!


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

yea they look awsome nah i dnt like spiders they freak me out but i dnt mind the red backs n funnel web and white tip there all coool get them every were so i dnt need to keep any lol


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## S.D. (Jun 23, 2007)

Yeah all our Tarantulas are “Old World” which means if you’ve seen pics of T’s being picked up, handled, looking tame as and not going schizo, then you’ve probably looking at a spider from the US which would be a “New World” Tarantula. If you ever get a book on Tarantulas you’ll even read on the best way to scoop up and handle your spider when you have guests and want to show them. Try that on an Aussie T (or any Old World species) and you’ll end up with a spider either falling and hurting itself, being completely stressed, throwing legs, being injured from holding too tight when they’re try and make a break for it, or worse yet, getting bitten.

Saying that though I have sometimes needed to coax a spider onto my palm when it has absolutely refused to head into a smaller container when I needed to clean its enclosure. But I think actually “handling” and taking a spider out for a play etc. is only going to end up being a mistake eventually.


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

do u have pics of your spider set ups


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## Forensick (Jun 23, 2007)

my spider setups involve a can and a half of raid, and a boot gaffer taped to a broom stick so i don;t have to be in the same room


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## S.D. (Jun 23, 2007)

Forensick said:


> my spider setups involve a can and a half of raid, and a boot gaffer taped to a broom stick so i don;t have to be in the same room


 
D00d… That’s a bit rough, yeah? I just hope my poor little spiders didn’t hear (OK then… Read) what you just said :cry:




dansfish4tea said:


> do u have pics of your spider set ups


 
I surely do my friend. I’ll actually go and take a few right now.


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## S.D. (Jun 23, 2007)

*Adult Enclosure*







OK this is where my #1 fav girl lives (she gets her own special enclosure because she’s so special). This enclosure is 60cm x 30cm x 30cm and is a lot bigger than what is needed for even the biggest adult female Tarantula. Forget all the cage decorations also (just for show as in for my benefit). Like I said she got special treatment as she was my first T and she’s a bit of a looker 







My other adults are housed in normal clear click-clacks (Big-W style) smaller than this (30cm x 40cm x 20cm) and no cage decorations other then a rock or two, a few bits of bark, some sphagnum moss and they basically have one hide (large white plastic plumbing tube) and one water bowl (which are the plastic lids of large Aus Post Tubes – the large, shallow red lids if you get me).







I use a mix of 50% Peat Moss (not the blocks, just the stuff in the bags) and 50% vermiculite for substrate. As you can see right now the substrate looks pretty dry but that’s because I don’t really like to spray down the enclosure too much during winter (gets too cold obviously). During summer though I don’t over-do-it with the spray bottle either, just enough so that it’s not 100% bone dry.







As you can see though, in the middle of the pic, she obviously doesn’t mind if I don’t spray the enclosure down too much during winter as she has dug herself in for the winter. 







You can see that all the cage decorations were money well spent. I must admit though she used to really dig (no pun intended) the Exo-Terra hide here, and actually webbed up the whole thing and had a tunnel going out the back where she could escape if she wanted. Other than that though, Tarantulas don’t seem to care too much for lavish furnishings.


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## S.D. (Jun 23, 2007)

*Spiderling Enclosure*






A little book case or something similar is perfect for keeping your small sling containers in. Not only does something like this save space, but they seem to prefer less light and more warmth during winter (just like how a lot of breeders use “racks” ). I actually keep all my spiders in the same room as I keep my python hatchies in also. I like to think of it as “the python nursery” and that way the slings and adult T’s don’t get too cold (I don’t use any specific heating for my T’s) as I use a heater to avoid the room getting too cold for my hatchies during winter. During summer it’s not too bad although I swap the heater for a small air-conditioner (the ones you fill with water) just to keep things sensible temperature wise if and when it does get a little hot.







Don’t pay too much attention to the spider’s names. They’re all named after Cannibal Corpse songs which are a lot easier to come up with and remember (for me anyway). As you can see I use a small stocking-sock to cover the lid. This doesn’t affect ventilation at all but it does prevent escapees. I wrap it around the lid twice to make sure. If you’re a guy though, you might get a few odd looks when you’re looking for these in the lady’s section when you’re out shopping (just try and keep a straight face, get what you want as quick as you can, get to the register fast and get outta there as quickly as you possibly can so as not to cause a “scene”) 







Much the same setup as the adults, just to a smaller scale obviously. With the slings I use a small Gatorade lid or anything similar with a few rocks in it to avoid crickets from drowning, a small deli cup for a hide and a bit of sphagnum moss (slings REALLY like to get amongst it and build their own hides).







As you can see in the top right hand corner, this little guy (or girl as it may turn out) has decided if he wants something done properly, he’ll do it himself. One interesting thing you’ll note if and when you start getting into Tarantulas is the very obvious differences in behaviour between species. Given the very same enclosure and setups, some species want to web-up as much of the enclosure as they can, some seem to think a deli cup is as good as it gets and basically do as little as possible, and some seem to want to dig very meticulous tunnels straight away. Like I said, this seems to be species specific behaviour as two or more slings of the same species seem to undertake mirrored behaviours.

It’s also amazing how Tarantulas seem to adapt to life in the cage much the same way as they do in the wild. For example I have a particular species of Tarantula found in Townsville. The breeder of this species told me that all the spiders he’s encountered in the wild don’t seem too interested in tunnelling and prefer to just build a webbed-tunnel on the side of whatever they can find (for example he’s found a lot who web-up the sides of scrap metal, rubbish dumped on the side of the highway and anything else found in this particular locality). All the Tarantulas of this species I have (4 in total – 2 slings and 2 adults) do exactly this in their enclosures. They just don’t seem interested in tunnels at all (which is very strange for a Tarantula given enough soil to make a tunnel in). I suppose I could go on for hours about this kind of stuff… But I’ve typed way to much as it is…


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

nice little setup you got, you got a list of species you keep? i think i have 11 all up, i have kept funnelwebs before but probably not again, you never see them and if you do its normally only their front legs protruding out of the burrow entrance


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## wood_nymph (Jun 23, 2007)

we get bird eaters at work i know one guy who handles his, but he also breeds and milks red backs and has been bitten by one of everything. the veanom itself isn't highly dangerous unless you have allergic reaction. during breeding season they're really argressive so i would try it, but maybe during the cooler months, but they do stress really easy. my main worry it the way they bite, they have quite big fangs and literally spring load they're bite, they rear up on their back set of legs and ram into their target so you'll get the whole one inch of fang in you, ouch! belives me it hurts!!!


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

aussie t's dont get 1 inch fangs, i think Theraphosa blondi is the only one with fangs that big, aussie t's get fangs to about 1.5cm i'm pretty sure, never heard of a fatality from them but have heard they are very painfull. I havent noticed a change in behaviour at different times of years, the only time i have seen a real change in behaviour is when introudicing the boy into the girls tank


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## wood_nymph (Jun 23, 2007)

lol, i was just being dramatic, i've been biten and i'm still here so not fatal on itself, but i swore a lot when it happened loudly and at length


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

lol, my mate got about 8 bites into him arm within about 10 secs, lucky they were dry bites. I have never had any that would run at ya but they would rear up if you got to close


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## wood_nymph (Jun 23, 2007)

lol, this one was an escaped one at work and none of the other girls were game enough to go looking, the bugger snuck up on me and got me in the soft back of my upper arm scared the **** out me and there wasn't anything dry about it, but caught it the end so it was worth it


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

are they look nice
have u got any 4ft set ups with lots of differnt spiders in there that be coool
like lots of red baks mixed in with wolf spiders all in the one enclosuer


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

that wouldnt be very cool, spiders like eating eachother


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

oh well we dnt want that lol
are you allowed to keep exotic spiders


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

nope


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## digdown2001 (Jun 23, 2007)

Hi,
An image or two, _Selenotypus plumipes_:






And a stunning, large Nth Qld coastal species, STENT'S BIRDSPIDER:






Cheers,
Steve


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

steve, when you gonna have the plumipes available? you still owe me a few


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

can you also get me pics of how you keep your tiny slings? whats better, sphagnum moss or peat moss?


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

im a self confesd arachnifobe (how ever spelled)
but i must admite they are nice 
weres these pics of the deadly ones lol
cmon funnel webs were are they

was camping at myall lakes in nsw 
and a huge funnel web female i think was caught
but it was the size of a taranchler obvious not sydney funnel web like we get at newcastle

are they still deadly when the females get big, i have heard that thay are close to harmless???


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

funnelwebs dont get to the size of tarantulas


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

lol i know that but this wasnt small like the sydney funnel web if u stuck it on the top of a coke it woulve taken the coke home
it was big and yes it was a funnel web


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

you sure it was a funnelweb? as i said funnelwebs do not got to t size


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

yea im sure it was a funnel web it was big 
but 
wasnt the size of a T but it was bigmout in da bush about 3hrs nth of sydney isnt it a differant speices then the sydney funnel web


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

can you give me an estimate of size? sure it wasnt a bog trapdoor?


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## Lars K (Jun 23, 2007)

wow, Stent's Birdspider looks awesome!!!
Here are some pics of my Brachypelma smithi.
I reared her since she was a little 1 cm juvie.


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## dansfish4tea (Jun 23, 2007)

wow thats awsome


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

i got 5 stents, cant wait till they grow for me


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## bylo (Jun 23, 2007)

wow 

Nice tarantua

 and what substrate is it on


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## Tsubakai (Jun 23, 2007)

The Stents are awesome. They will be my next T.


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## Lars K (Jun 23, 2007)

The substrate is made of clay. It's called Seramis. It's similar to the clay balls you use
for hydroponics. I just exchanged the peat for Seramis. A lot of people use it
and I just tried it too.


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

hows old is your smithi now?


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## Lars K (Jun 23, 2007)

About 8 years.


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## hornet (Jun 23, 2007)

that the only t you got? My oldest t is probably more then 10


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## Lars K (Jun 23, 2007)

No, but I only got pics of my B. smithi.
I got Brachypelma emilia, Aphonopelma bicoloratum,
Vitalius cristatus, Avicularia versicolor spiderlings and
Avicularia spec. amazonica (Brazil) spiderlings.
I would love to keep a Poecilotheria metallica. 
But I'll wait till the prices will hopefully go down for them.


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## Retic (Jun 24, 2007)

Lars, beautiful Red Knee, I will try and find a photo of mine I had years ago.


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## Reaper (Jun 25, 2007)

dansfish4tea said:


> yea im sure it was a funnel web it was big
> but
> wasnt the size of a T but it was bigmout in da bush about 3hrs nth of sydney isnt it a differant speices then the sydney funnel web


it may have been a tree funnel web( unlikely as they spend there lives high in the trees) i'm pretty sure the are more robust in build and size to the sydney funnel web.. also the female syd funel web is extreemly dangerous even more so when fully grown as they can deliver a much larger venom yeild in there bite! and the sydney funnel web is by no means a small spider they do grow to a decent size not the size of the t's but still quite large in comparisan to our other aussie spiders! u will prob find it wa alarge trap door, the can have very similar fetures and can be miss identified by a novice quite easily.


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## Scag (Jul 6, 2007)

ive been looking at the U.S tarantula forums and some of the foreign spiders look stunning is there any chance of importing spiders for mexico and the US or is it illegal also do any aussies breed the black and orange tarantulas?

Thanks.


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## Scleropages (Jul 6, 2007)

Hold on hold on the Stents is an ozzy T???


Crappers , where can we get some?


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## PhilK (Jul 7, 2007)

I find my T to be a cool pet but EVER SO BOOOORRRINNNGGG!!!! I see it about 3 times a year, the rest of the time she chills out in her toilet paper tube.


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## Ranga (Jul 7, 2007)

on the second page wat is that white stuff in the tanks? looks like chicken meat? lol


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## nuthn2do (Jul 7, 2007)

Ranga said:


> on the second page wat is that white stuff in the tanks? looks like chicken meat? lol


Looks like sphagnum moss


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## prettyinmetal (Jul 7, 2007)

*patting spiders?*

I have a bird eating spiderling. Now i just want to put my two words in well sort of speaking anyways, ive had her for about 6 months now, when i first got her she was about 1.5cm big and I got told to put on some cotton gloves and put your hand flat in the tank and push her bum to make her go onto your hand, so i did this and she sat on my hand for about 3 seconds then decided to make a running dash up my arm under my shirt and sit on my belt, BUT after about 3 months of handling her for about 10minutes everyday she started to get used to coming out and just sitting either in my hand or on my shoulder, when she started running up my arm i would pat my arm just above where she was and she would stop straight away. 
And now she is about 7cm and when i get her out she will just sit on my shoulder, and when i lay down to chill out and watch a movie or something she will walk off my shoulder and sit in the pocket of my jacket. 
when she was a little itty bitty thing she did try to bite all the time, but if you get a spiderling and start teaching it with cotton gloves i found that they are very very intelligent and will eventually get used to being handled. But only time will tell when she is full sized if she will stay that calm.

So the moral to my story is, everything is possible, just keep at it and you will find out for yourself weather the spider that you bought will get used to being handled or is it more of a spectacter sport.


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## PhilK (Jul 7, 2007)

Sphagnum moss?


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## Tsubakai (Jul 7, 2007)

Trousa_Snake said:


> Hold on hold on the Stents is an ozzy T???
> 
> 
> Crappers , where can we get some?




The Stents were discovered by Brendan Stent somewhere near Townsville (obviously exact location is not public knowledge). He is the only licenced T catcher in the area as far as I am aware. He has Stents Birdeaters available (at least according to his website) from small slings up to >100mm. I'm pretty sure only the adults are WC. He's big into captive breeding to take the pressure off the native population.

I don't know if its ok to advertise on this thread so PM me and I can give you details.


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## Tsubakai (Jul 7, 2007)

PhilK said:


> Sphagnum moss?



Available in all nurseries and your local Bunnings. I use it for my T's and a 50/50 mix with large grain riversand as a potting mix for my venus fly traps - seems to be working ok for both.


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## PhilK (Jul 8, 2007)

Sorry haha I didn't mean it as a question, I was just hazarding a guess as to what it was. I use red desert sand. Seems to look good and works fine


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