The chemistries not there , okay....................... sand comes in many types graded by it's refined quartz or silica............. some types of sand are found naturally to contain almost prue quartz, this sands particles are extremally small and is being used commercially - commonly called sandblast sand. This sand is mined in alot of countries, seas , oceans, and in almost all 50 US states ( Ky, Tenn, NV, NJ,etc.) It is even mined in Hawaii , infact it accounted for 70 million annually in reveune repoerted in 2001. The dust produced by this fine quartz is called crystaline. Cyrstaline is responsible for the deaths of 250 people annually as reported by NIOSHA. Crystaline causes a disease called Silicosis.
Because I am no sand expert I would not use sand found in the wild. I personally can't see the differences in sand that is sterile, sand that is not, sand that is almost pure quartz and sand that is used to change the soil profile of a golf course. I would personnally not buy bags of sand that are sitting out side in the rain because of the possiblility of bacterial exposure.
The use of granite in fish tanks is not recommened however very common in the freshwater fish industry. It's a big no no for saltwater. Reason it's not recommend is that rocks erode. Over 60% of all rocks on this planet contain silica. The quartz from granite can also erode releasing crystaline into your fish tank. I have no time frame on this process. I just goggled it. - many thanks to the states of MD,KY,HI,NV for providing me with most of this info.
Back to the original point - the use of organic matter found in it's natural state in the wild is not recommened for aquarist because you don't really know from sight what harmful biology said product might contain or the mineral content and it's concentration.
Because I am no sand expert I would not use sand found in the wild. I personally can't see the differences in sand that is sterile, sand that is not, sand that is almost pure quartz and sand that is used to change the soil profile of a golf course. I would personnally not buy bags of sand that are sitting out side in the rain because of the possiblility of bacterial exposure.
The use of granite in fish tanks is not recommened however very common in the freshwater fish industry. It's a big no no for saltwater. Reason it's not recommend is that rocks erode. Over 60% of all rocks on this planet contain silica. The quartz from granite can also erode releasing crystaline into your fish tank. I have no time frame on this process. I just goggled it. - many thanks to the states of MD,KY,HI,NV for providing me with most of this info.
Back to the original point - the use of organic matter found in it's natural state in the wild is not recommened for aquarist because you don't really know from sight what harmful biology said product might contain or the mineral content and it's concentration.
