is it okay to use river sand for a planted tank?

[flowerhornfishman]

i just pick up some fine river sand for my tank from a nearby river. it resembles beach sand but much browner. here are my questions, do i have to boil it to kill all the bacteria? or can i just clean it until the dirt is remove and just settle it into my tank? which is better? sand or gravel? im afraid tht the sand will get suck into the filter. some advice from the pro's will be surely helpful. thanks.

 

[Fat Homer]

Sand / gravel can be suitable for a planted tank if you go with plants that arent too demanding...

So things like Anubias, mosses and swords could work given you supply them with everything else they need...

As for cleaning the sand / gravel, since its from a wild source, i would personally want to clean it really well with hot water to kill off any possible nasty parasites / diseases that could be harboring in the new substrate...

But thats my take on it, some others may disagree and call it over-kill...




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[flowerhornfishman]

yup, this is my first planted tank actually. but the boiling thing.... man, my parents will kill me if i put sand in the cooking pot. hahah but i'll try not cooking it. if it does carry disease, ill just switch on to gravel. :L btw, thanks for the advice.

 

[Chicxulub]

Moved to setup and filtration