Beach Sand In A Freshwater tank

VanWylder24 · 02-24-2005, 02:01 PM

Hi, I was planning on buying sand to put in my 135 gallon tank I live a mile from the beach and figured why not just go take some free beach sand and obviously wash it out extensively. Is there any way that this won't work or my fish will die?

**Fishfirst** · 02-24-2005, 02:16 PM

It depends... it may boost your pH since its from the ocean... since I dont live near a beach so I haven't done it before. Also there can be a lot of organics (sticks/floating particals) in beach sand... you may need to clean it more than you think.

**Damon** · 02-24-2005, 03:53 PM

Agreed. There's no telling what jind of pathogens are in the sand and what affect it could have on your water quality. I would just spend the 4 bucks and get some playsand from home depot or Lowes.

VanWylder24 · 02-24-2005, 07:54 PM

Damn, alright thanks for the help, it was worth a shot. I didnt realize sand from Home Depot was that cheap, im used to getting ripped off on gravel from the fish stores.

google · 02-24-2005, 11:26 PM

there'll b yucky stuff in the sand

MyraVan · 02-25-2005, 04:02 AM

You can just get gravel from the garden shop. I got a bag of "alpine gravel" ( little pieces suitable for putting around little alpine plants) for 2 quid (which is something like $3.50).

Mr Aquarium · 02-26-2005, 07:17 AM

I recall back in the days of the old Rock Corries when you could drive in there and Buy
"clean sand"
Not Play sand, Clean sand for sand-boxes,,,,,I remember this as being a very nice white colored sand you could play in all day and not get any kind of dirty from.
Of Course this was like 35 years ago to.....

**Cichlid Man** · 02-26-2005, 10:26 AM

Even though not highly recommended, two of my tanks have sand from the beach, but I live in the south of England so I don't know what your sand's like. I also filtered and boiled the sand with making a thorough pH and ammonia test before adding it to my tanks though.
(Besides, its a lot cheaper when you want to keep eels in a 6 foot tank that need lots of sand anyway).

02-24-2005, 02:01 PM	#1
VanWylder24 Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 9	Beach Sand In A Freshwater tank Hi, I was planning on buying sand to put in my 135 gallon tank I live a mile from the beach and figured why not just go take some free beach sand and obviously wash it out extensively. Is there any way that this won't work or my fish will die?

02-24-2005, 02:16 PM	#2
Fishfirst Fish Guru Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Northern Wisconsin Age: 24 Posts: 3,546	It depends... it may boost your pH since its from the ocean... since I dont live near a beach so I haven't done it before. Also there can be a lot of organics (sticks/floating particals) in beach sand... you may need to clean it more than you think. __________________ 210 Gal Reef w/ 55 Gallon Sump/Fuge, 125 Gal Fish Only, 65 Gal Seahorse-29 Gallon Sump, 55 Gal FOWLR, 54 Gal Corner FW Community, 20 Gal Nano FOWLR, 55 Gal Piranha, 29 gallon QT "All the yellow tangs and clownfish in the world can't save you now! hahahah" Peter from Family Guy

02-24-2005, 03:53 PM	#3
Damon Aquatic Naturalist Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Dayton, Ohio Age: 32 Posts: 14,982	Re: Beach Sand In A Freshwater tank Agreed. There's no telling what jind of pathogens are in the sand and what affect it could have on your water quality. I would just spend the 4 bucks and get some playsand from home depot or Lowes. __________________ For in much wisdom [is] much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Member of the AGA (Aquatic Gardner's Association) Member of the IBC (International Betta Congress)

02-24-2005, 07:54 PM	#4
VanWylder24 Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 9	Re: Beach Sand In A Freshwater tank Damn, alright thanks for the help, it was worth a shot. I didnt realize sand from Home Depot was that cheap, im used to getting ripped off on gravel from the fish stores.

02-24-2005, 11:26 PM	#5
google Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 85	Re: Beach Sand In A Freshwater tank there'll b yucky stuff in the sand

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02-25-2005, 04:02 AM	#6
MyraVan Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 864	Re: Beach Sand In A Freshwater tank You can just get gravel from the garden shop. I got a bag of "alpine gravel" ( little pieces suitable for putting around little alpine plants) for 2 quid (which is something like $3.50).

02-26-2005, 07:17 AM	#7
Mr Aquarium Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Southern Iowa Age: 43 Posts: 499	Re: Beach Sand In A Freshwater tank I recall back in the days of the old Rock Corries when you could drive in there and Buy "clean sand" Not Play sand, Clean sand for sand-boxes,,,,,I remember this as being a very nice white colored sand you could play in all day and not get any kind of dirty from. Of Course this was like 35 years ago to.....

02-26-2005, 10:26 AM	#8
Cichlid Man Super moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,100	Re: Beach Sand In A Freshwater tank Even though not highly recommended, two of my tanks have sand from the beach, but I live in the south of England so I don't know what your sand's like. I also filtered and boiled the sand with making a thorough pH and ammonia test before adding it to my tanks though. (Besides, its a lot cheaper when you want to keep eels in a 6 foot tank that need lots of sand anyway). __________________ If you have a big enough tank with enough hiding places, pH of around 7, you can keep virtually any fish together as long as all the fish are around the same size and these two groups of fish are avioded: Serrasalmus Tetradon(figure eights and dwarfs are the exception). I keep a successful community of fish in a 4 foot tank including the following families: Cichlids, tetras, loaches, gouramis, barbs, rainbows, livebearers, killiefish, catfish, puffers.

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