Sand question?

[alter40]

Having never used sand, I have decided to give it a shot and see how I like it. I have decided to get sand from the hardware store to use for this.

Is there any certain type of sand that I should avoid?

The sand I was looking at is made by Quickcrete and I believe it just says all purpose sand, would this work ok?

 

[d3sc3n7]

Eric, thats the exact sand in the puffer tank. $3.?? for the 50lb bag?

 

[alter40]

Yeah its like $5 for it I think at the one place I saw it. I haven't gone to Home Depot yet but I will probably look there on Monday when I go to get a new hood and light for my tank.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Yup thats the stuff i use.

 

[Whiskers]

i've been told the same thing. 50lb bag for $3.50 at home depot. I'm pretty sure thats what i have in all 3 of my tanks.

 

[alter40]

Alright well it looks like I will be going with that sand then. I will be picking it up as well as a new hood and light for my empty 10g so I can get a small native tank started up

 

[tom91970]

Having never used sand, I have decided to give it a shot and see how I like it. I have decided to get sand from the hardware store to use for this.

Is there any certain type of sand that I should avoid?

The sand I was looking at is made by Quickcrete and I believe it just says all purpose sand, would this work ok?

I use pool filter sand in my 14g planted tank. I believe it's a little darker than play sand. I'm not sure how light/dark Quickcrete is.

That being said, the one sand I would avoid would be quick sand.

 

[alter40]

I use pool filter sand in my 14g planted tank. I believe it's a little darker than play sand. I'm not sure how light/dark Quickcrete is.

That being said, the one sand I would avoid would be quick sand.

Thanks Tom, I may look for the pool filter sand then so it isn't overly bright.

If I do find quick sand I may get it though. I think it would stop any snail problems I might have Fish don't stand in the sand anyway! The cray may be SOL though haha

 

[Punkrulz]

I anxiously await pictures! I'm dying to get sand into a tank, however I don't have a tank to put it in yet... and don't want to go through the hassle of changing out my 10g substrate...

 

[alter40]

Well I may make a trip for supplies tomorrow but I'm not sure if I will be able to or not yet. You will see plenty of pics soon though.

 

[Orion]

I had some play sand I got at Lowes years ago. Never again. The sand was so fine that I had constant problems with anaerobic pockets forming. Also apparently the type I used was really high in silicates so I had almost constant problems with a type of red algae. This wasn't a planted tank mind you.

Pool Filter sand +2000. It's a lot more course, so it doesn't let the anaerobic pockets form that easy. I never had that problem with pool filter sand. And, IMHO, it looked a heck of a lot more natural than the play sand. And no problems with high silicates. The only downside is that the edges can be sharp, so depending on how you wipe your glass down if your not carefull you can scratch the crap out of the tank.

I know playsand isn't the same thing as the quick-create sand. But I was thrilled with the pool filter sand. I don't remember how much it was off hand, but it was right down there with the rest of it in price, cheap for at least a 20-30 lbs. bag from the local pool supply store. And the extra pool filter sand I had laying around has helped me get my van unstuck a few times this winter...

 

[alter40]

Thanks for the info Orion. I will look for some pool filter sand first then before I get the other stuff.

I really only plan on having this tank setup like 2 or 3 months until I can get my 75g setup for my natives. So since it won't be setup too long I figured I could just try some things out on this one that I have wanted to do before and using sand as substrate is one of those things I have wanted to do.

 

[joy613]

I have bought the expensive sand at the LFS and play sand, both I find work equally well. I have MTS in my tanks and they take care of the anaerobic pockets problem because the tunnel into the sand. BTW alter40 I have followed your 10 gallon tank and it looks fantastic.

 

[alter40]

I have bought the expensive sand at the LFS and play sand, both I find work equally well. I have MTS in my tanks and they take care of the anaerobic pockets problem because the tunnel into the sand. BTW alter40 I have followed your 10 gallon tank and it looks fantastic.

Thanks for the info joy. This tank I'm really trying to do for the least amount of money as possible so thats why I was going with the cheap sand.

Maybe I can find some native snails or something that will clear those pockets up. I won't put any MTS in there though because they aren't native here. Either way I can mix the sand up some to remove those pockets.

Thanks for the compliment on my 10g. I'm hoping to make this one just as nice. I think I'm going with a more minimalistic approach to this tank though. If I find some nice looking native plants I will add them but it probably won't be as dense as my other tank.