Considering sand where to buy and how much
- Thread starter akimbo
- Start date
On average you want a pound to a pound in a half per gallon depending on how deep you want it. So for you your gonna want about 220 pounds. Your not going to want to order it online shipped would be stupid expensive. You could go to you LFS and have them special order some but that will be expensive to. What I do is either go to a hardware store like home depot and get play sand its like 3 to 4 something for a 50 pound bag. Or and your best bet is go to a pool place and buy pool filter sand from what I have been told it costs about the same as play sand. I personally have play sand but I'm going to be switching to pool sand soon. Pool sand is heavier and not as fine so it won't get stired up as easly and get in your filters. The place sand looks nice but its really fine and fish kick it up easliy and it will get in your filters.
Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
Just get playground sand from Home Depot. It will blow your mind how cheap it is. There is literally NOTHING special about "aquarium" sand that you find in a pet store, and it is insanely over-priced. I had sand in my tanks for years and always got it from Home Depot, just make sure to rinse and wash it first to get all the dust out, otherwise your tank will be disgusting.
Here is a set-up I had last year. The 125 is pool filter sand. The left 29 is CaribSea sand. The right 29 is pool filter and CaribSea sand mixed together.
Whatever you do, do NOT NOT NOT use play sand from Home Depot or Lowes. You will regret it, believe me. I used it once and will never use it again.
Get the pool filter sand. Its available for anywhere from $7-12 for a 50lb bag from any pool supply store. Its a heavier grained sand that looks good.
If you want something a little darker, you can try Lapis Lustre sand, but you have to order it online and have it shipped. I got 300lbs delivered from California to Kentucky for $120 total (3 bags sand plus shipping), so its not super cheap, but a lot cheaper than sand from the fish store.
Get the pool filter sand. Its available for anywhere from $7-12 for a 50lb bag from any pool supply store. Its a heavier grained sand that looks good.
If you want something a little darker, you can try Lapis Lustre sand, but you have to order it online and have it shipped. I got 300lbs delivered from California to Kentucky for $120 total (3 bags sand plus shipping), so its not super cheap, but a lot cheaper than sand from the fish store.
I used that sand for years and I always have healthy fish, actually fish living TOO long has generally been the issue, with the exception of a fire eel that got sick and stopped eating out of nowhere, eventually dying. Otherwise, if you rinse it out really well, you can't possibly have issues. I have two other friends who use it as well, and one of them has it in a custom 460 gallon stingray/arowana tank.
I used play sand in a 125g south american tank. It worked great for growing plants. But any flow directed towards the sand, or any fish moving quickly, or any eartheaters digging through it, caused huge clouds to billow up. I had two overflows on the back of the tank, and both of them ended up 3/4 full of sand, to within 4 " of the top of the drain pipes. I ended up with 1.5" of sand on the bottom of my sump, and I went through the impellers on two different pumps because the sand got pulled into them and chewed them up.
The sand works, but its so fine that it gets blown up into the water column no matter how many times you wash it first. Chances are if you have it in a tank long enough, its going to eat up the impellers on any pumps or filters you have running on the tank.
that's just my personal experience, but I've heard the same from many others, both on here and on other forums.
Considering how cheap pool filter sand is, with the larger grain size and much much less dust to begin with, there's no reason not to use it over play sand.
The sand works, but its so fine that it gets blown up into the water column no matter how many times you wash it first. Chances are if you have it in a tank long enough, its going to eat up the impellers on any pumps or filters you have running on the tank.
that's just my personal experience, but I've heard the same from many others, both on here and on other forums.
Considering how cheap pool filter sand is, with the larger grain size and much much less dust to begin with, there's no reason not to use it over play sand.