play pit sand

[joehanney]

Hi , I've read on here about people using play sand as aquarium substrate, just wondered if you could use any sand.
For example -

- Building sand, silver, white or any of the other types

- Sand from beaches or would this have to much salt in it for fresh water.

- Sharp sand or would as the name suggests be to sharp

Any info would be great or any over alternatives that is cheap to buy would be good also.

Thanks

Joe

 

[wanstar]

wouldnt use building sand as your aquarium would be orange forever play pit sand i have in my tanks but it needs serious cleaning dont know about the others.

 

[joehanney]

Why would it be orange?

 

[joehanney]

I was thinking about using this. Wickes silver sand
What does play sand look like in a tank?

 

[apisto]

you can use play sand but a bit fine for my taste and it needs ages to settle.

Silver sand is fine to use but by far the cheapest option is to use silica sand from an aggregates supplier. It's use for laying cobble stone and generally very clean. The stuff I use doesn't need any washing. Goes straight into my tanks.

Both silver sand and playsand are types of silica sand. The silver sand tends to be pure white and IMO looks unnatural. Play sand is too fine and is a pain to clean and is too fine (some brands anyway)

 

[joehanney]

thanks for the info. i'll have a look around tomorrow for some

 

[ozz465]

Go to home depot and get some builders sand , 50 lb for 4 $ , just rinse it well and ure set . i have this type in my tank , was cloudy for a day but the filter cleared it up by the next day.

 

[coolkeith]

Pool Filter sand is a popular choice. It's doesn't compact like playsand does.

 

[trevinoboy]

why don't you put some tile, the good thing about tile is that, it reales some chemical that soften the water and it eliminates the having to add salt to your tank every week

 

[njackson]

go for play sand at argos, 15kg for £2.89 and they deilvery.