Sand In fish tank

[yournamehere]

Hello, I was thinking about putting sand in my fish tank (30 gal)
Would i use filter sand?
Does sand float in the tank at all? (cause a mess)
And lastly, Would it be better to use sand and gravel or just sand.
ATM, i have medium sized gravel.

[tiki-dude]

i use sand in my fish tank,,
before i put it in i tried it out in my smallest tank with no fish in it, i then left it for 24 hours but the water did not clear up.
so i put the sand into a big container andkept on filling, waiting 5 seconds and emptying the water. this got rid of the finer particals of sand that float around.
i used left over construction sand (not sure what its called)
the only problem i found is that the fish poo sits on top of the sand.
looks great clean tho.
good luck

[spencer25]

I have "play sand" from home depot in my 30 gallon tank and it seems to do just fine, just make sure it doesnt get compacted "turn black". This will mostly happen around objects so just agitate the sand when you do water changes. Also if you do use play sand make sure you wash the hell out of it before you put it in the tank because its very dirty. As for play sand with gravel, i am currently using it in my 155 gallon tank and find it to be a nightmare, the gravel permits almost no oxygen flow into the sand and the sand starts turning black in a matter of days so i have to agitate it every 3-4 days, the gases never seem to bother my fish though. Im not too sure about the filter sand but i would think that it might give you better oxygen flow and less compaction.

[maxpayne_lhp]

AS spencer - i use play sand. Actually it was not that big of an effort to clean it, ime - the water was a bit cloudy for several hours, and no - nothing floats after that (or almost none.) If you are adding sand into an already established tank like I did (or still do here and there to improve the look of the sand bed,) do it slowly and turn off your filter, I shove some sand in a sandwhich bag and slowly release it when the bags in the bottom, that way there will be less stuff floating all over the place.

My plants are doing great with my sand, fine gravel mix (prob 3 sand 1 gravel?) and I create layers to make it look less homogeneous (less artificial i suppose.) I think many people who have planted tanks would suggest a mix, rather a sand only substrate.

[barty boy]

hey im having a new tank in the new yr an i would really like sand but ive heard it can be harmful if gas develops , ive also been told that sifting it around every 2 days will stop it happening is this true

[Redwings]

Hi, I have a 75 gallon with play sand from the local hardware store and it works fine. I bought five 5 gallon buckets from when home depot had a grand opening and were 1 dollar each, yea I know what a steal =p, I had to get 5 lol. I fill them up with water and pour sand in them and every hour or so I would stir it so sand that clumped would stop and let sand that would float but was trapped at the bottom float up. After I see no more clumps and after stiring it would stop releasing sand to the top I put it in my tank.

[lemons]

I've used mostly play sand from Lowes.

They also sell big 45 gallon tubs for like $13. Whenever I do it I buy one of the tubs a couple hundred pounds of sand. Just take the tub to somewhere outside with good drainage, put the sand in the tub, maybe drill a few holes in the side of the tub high up. I just throw a hose in it and periodically move the hose around and agitate the sand with a pitch fork. You'll notice that you lose a lot of volume, but it cleans it very well. Usually takes a few hours to clean all the way using this method. And with play sand only costing $3 for a 50 pound bag it's not a big deal if you lose 50 pounds.