Heavy sand?

[Tanyoberu]

I'm using play sand right now and it was fine for months. But now the fish are getting larger and if they decide to swim close to the sand they blow it up in water current. So now my tank has sand to one side. Is there a heavy type of sand or small gravel that I can use?

How about beach sand? I was tempted to load my car up with 50-75 lbs of the stuff and haul it home, CLEAN IT, and add it to my tank.

I have a brackish tank.

 

[matty2468]

i just lost a filter to sand!! i dnt think theres anyway u can prevent this from happening m8 watch ur filter dnt block up whilst this is happening! gl

 

[rnocera]

My pool filter sand barely moves. Fish shift it around some (specifically the spawning convicts), but they even shift gravel.

 

[spiff]

Home Depot carries an orange chip agrogate that they call sand, but its more like 1/8th inch pea gravel. If its sand, its very heavy sand. But it looks very cool in a tank.

Its about $2.50 per 50lbs.

 

[brackishdude]

My pool filter sand barely moves. Fish shift it around some (specifically the spawning convicts), but they even shift gravel.

WHat he said.

I find that the relatively large grains of roughly equal size (well graded) work very well in my brackish tank.

It does settle flat over time, but the grains are big enough to "gravel-vacuum" by siphon if you're willing to pinch the drain tube a bit at times to slow the water and allow the sand to settle, and you're left with pleasing sand dunes. . .for a while.

I have a pretty good population of malasian trumpet snails that burrow and only surface after dark or at feeding.