I was looking around and I saw in DIY tank build that a person took sand from home depo and used it in their tank. Is this okay to do? Can I take sand from the beach and use it? And if I do buy sand from lowes or home depo what sand should I buy and what should I do before I put it in the tank?
Sand
- Thread starter ninjastar
- Start date
im using the high desert play sand from home depot. its white and it looks great. so far ive had no problems with it for about half a year. and im not sure about beach sand, i think youre better off with home depot sand, its only $5 for 50lbs
ninjastar;4055653; said:
beach sand isnt a good idea... there are a lot of living organisms in beach sand. play sand is a hassle imo. its too light and fish will kick it up easily and make your tank cloudy. i recommend using pfs or pool filter sand, its a heavier grain and looks great. and i would take the gravel out and then put the sand... putting sand on top will be a hassle to clean and wouldnt look good.
here is a pic of my tank with pfs. and another pic of what the color looks like
im using home depot sand in my 10 gal, rinse the sand by putting it in the 10 gal and putting a hose in it, stir the sand up so that it makes the water cloudy. once the container is filled most of the way up dump the cloudy water out being careful not to dump and of the thick sand out. repeat these steps until the water is mostly to completely clear. will take many steps. when you fill up the tank the water will be a little cloudy but the sand will settle or be filtered out. the sand is nice because its got the fine particles but also has larger bits of gravel in it for contrast.
put some sand in an old pillow case and run the hose till clear. its some much quicker then the bucket method. less mess, and its much easier. i use pool filter sand.
on my larger tank i cut holes in bottom of a bucket, put a pillow case in bucket, poured sand in, and was golden.
on my larger tank i cut holes in bottom of a bucket, put a pillow case in bucket, poured sand in, and was golden.
