What kinda sand?

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kamikaziechameleon

kamikaziechameleon

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 23, 2010
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Ok so last time I did sand in a tank I had play sand and it was a mess. It looks nice but you CAN'T clean it to save your life. I graduated from that to crushed coral. Now I'm looking to setup a large tank for some fish that would appreciate a lower PH so I'm returning to sand. The question I have is what sands would you recommend? I see allot of recommendations for pool filter sand etc. What color/appearance does that have? If you could please link to a sample of any recommendations, Thanks. The tank will have bichirs and eventually rays so keep that in mind. Also there will be plants in the tank, crypts, java fern, and giant anubis.
 
PFS (pool filter sand) looks just like playsand. And YES you can clean it, you just have to be more diligent.

I hated the color difference in my fish over time with playsand so I switched to black sand. Black Diamond (Tractor supply) not sure though with a Ray.
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

Well the tank will have black rocks, and green plants and 2 large piece of drift wood. So I expect if it looks the same(pool filter sand to play sand) it should be good is there a specific size diameter I should aim for???

Someone recommended sand blasting sand a while ago to me, is there any gains there? And if there is where would I find it?
 
If you want cheap stuff thats good find yourself some river sand, its heavier then play sand so its sinks right away and usually doesnt flick all over your driftwood and rocks, i just scooped mine up and cleaned it.
 
Honestly with rays they are a little more sensitive I would assume to the substrate. The sand blasting sand your speaking of is sold at TractorSupply, and its very fine. I will also mention it HURT to clean it, so with force it can be sharp.

I dont like silica, it can lead to algae issues if you dont know what your doing.
 
JasonG75 said:
Honestly with rays they are a little more sensitive I would assume to the substrate. The sand blasting sand your speaking of is sold at TractorSupply, and its very fine. I will also mention it HURT to clean it, so with force it can be sharp.

I dont like silica, it can lead to algae issues if you dont know what your doing.
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Ok, no sand blaster sand!

All pool filter sand I've seen is silica sand, can you point me to any brands that offer non silica pool filter sand that is a good size/weight? River sand sounds interesting. Would these sands be available at a home depot?
 
I use the commercial sand from home depot. Its a big 100lb bag and its fine white sand, kinda like hawaii beach sand. Its looks really nice and washes pretty quick
 
So many different options... I'm thinking I will try out silica. It will be going in a 265 gallon tank with overflows so there won't be any filter intake at the bottom so sand pickup should be minimal. I've only done crushed coral and play sand up to this point. Coral was so easy compared to play sand but I really do like the play sand appearance. I like the sound of the Hawaii sand, maybe next time! The river sand too has a good sound to it.
 
Hello; Over the years I have tried sand and have gone away from it. I find that plants tend to do well for me in a deep substrate, four inches or more in some cases. Generally three inches at least. Deep fine sand seems to pack a bit. There are many posts and threads suggesting that sand should be a thin layer to help prevent toxic build up under it, I can not confirm this from experience. Fine sand will likely get into the moving parts of filters and shorten their working life.

When I do use sand, I buy a lot of the cheap construction sand and sift it while dry. It is cheap enough to be able to discard the fine stuff. The size of the sand particles you keep and use will depend on the screen size used to sift it. You can wind up with a variety of particle sizes. Once sifted it cleans up somewhat easier as well.
 
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