Creek bed sand in aquarium

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doomiedee

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Nov 13, 2011
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Waterbury
I have a small creek in the woods near my home . I have black and coffee sand mix in my aquarium now. I was wondering if I could take a 5 gallon bucket of the sand from the creek and put in my aquarium without harming my fish

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You never really know, personally I'd just spend the $3.50 for 50#s of play sand.
 
Personally i wouldnt....ive heared of it being done before mostly in native tanks....no matter how much you rinse it you never really know. There could be any number of microscopic diseases an dparasites in the sand.
 
I did it tons of times when I was a teen never had a problem. but im sure you could end up killing your fish if there is a toxin, parasite, or native disease in that particular stream. If your worried about it boil the sand for a few minutes. Or add a cup of bleach Leave it over night and then rinse really well.

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I did it tons of times when I was a teen never had a problem. but im sure you could end up killing your fish if there is a toxin, parasite, or native disease in that particular stream. If your worried about it boil the sand for a few minutes. Or add a cup of bleach Leave it over night and then rinse really well.

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Thats good to know. Wouldnt the bleach hurt the fish is not cleaned properly? I just want something more naterual looking and figured if I could get it for free why not give it a shot.

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i would never use play sand get pool filter sand and you can use the creek sand just rinse it really well

Pool filter sand looks so boring. Play sand looks more natural, as in the color is darker and usually has little flecks of rocks in it.
 
Pool filter sand looks so boring. Play sand looks more natural, as in the color is darker and usually has little flecks of rocks in it.

True, but it's also a lot finer grained and I've heard a LOT of stories about it getting sucked up by filters. Don't think I've heard of pool filter sand getting sucked up. I mean, I'm sure it's happened, but not nearly as often.
I actually think the pool filter sand looks more natural, but I think that's just a matter of opinion.


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