Tldr: RINSE as mentioned many times, mine had hastily taped holes also as mentioned many times, cheaper in person, and much finer than expected (possibly finer than supposed to be). Is cheaper by almost $10 if your local aquarium supply store has them in stock, and like many others have noted in the reviews, both of my purchased bags were cut open and taped back shut. I didn't weigh the bag to see how much may have been lost and don't know if it actually was used and returned as some have suspected. Once again, like many others have noted in the reviews, RINSE before use. There is a large percentage of dust in the bag (perhaps due to the same, likely prolonged rough handling that resulted in the big hole in the bag), and while the incredibly foggy look to your aquarium will clear after a day and a half or so, becoming genuinely very clear about 2 days after, ANY handling or upsetting of the substrate starts it all over again (a big issue if you have any fish/rays that love digging). I will be mixing up the substrate and replacing water polishing pads somewhat regularly for awhile in my tank, but at least it's getting cycled (I hope my sizeable snail population doesn't mind while they do their job of getting them bacteria going for the new fish and assassin snail inhabitants). I feel Amazon would have likely replaced what I received had I contacted them, but I was in a hurry (hence why I had bags of sand shipped instead of waiting to get in person; weird how that actually makes sense in this day and age), so I can't fuss too much about a problem that may have been swiftly and effectively resolved (or just replaced with more of the same, idk). If you are in a big hurry like me, try not to be and wait for your local aquarium supply to get some back in stock, and if you're too stubborn to not be in a hurry (also like me), take you dear, sweet time rinsing, possibly using a 5 gallon bucket with the hose stuck under the sand to really get the dust moving and out. The sand is also much finer than expected (maybe due to lots of rough handling and breaking down, maybe the pics on Seachem's website are just super-zoomed in? I've never tried this stuff before), hopefully it will not impede root growth. I will update later as to how things go for the new plants and fish that will live with it when I feel things are stable. I wish I had bought in person or gone to Amazon to try to send back for a refund, but I didn't. I'm sure all will work out, it will just be a bit more work than expected, and I will always wonder what my experience would have been getting it cheaper in person.
