sandblasting sand and play sand....

[Scuba Kid]

okay, well i was wondering:
everyone is suggesting play sand from home depot for fish tanks...but wouldnt this sand be contaminated since its not meant for aquariums? isnt it kinda risking to use that sand?
also, if its safe to use, approximatly how much would it cost? would it be cheaper than buying sand from my LFS?

[Lexus]

Its safe and its cheaper than LFS. If it wasnt safe and cheaper people wouldnt recommend it now would they?

[soshesays]

Doesnt play sand contain silicates? I thought those were very harmful to fish?? I know that playsand will more then likely cost you less then 10$ a bag, I use to work at lowes, but it all contains silicates...

[turtlehead]

the glass that the tank is made out of has silicate, so is your tank bad for fish?

[soshesays]

Well, I didn't come up with that conclusion, I asked the same question about 6 months ago before this site went down, and I asked if play sand from HD would be alright, and they said to make sure there aren't any silicates in the sand... so i'm not sure, I would have MUCH rather used HD sand compared to the fish store sand which was a ridiculous price.. I was just replying just in case, we don't want un-needed fish deaths.. but i'd still like to know more about this....

[soshesays]

the stuff to hold your glass together is SILICONE, silicates contain metals, and what not.. here's the look up from the dictionary, if this helps any.. i'm not disagreeing with you, I have no clue.. just going on what I was told

The generic term for salts derived from silica or the silicic acids. They contain silicon, oxygen, and one or more metals, and may contain hydrogen.

[soshesays]

Sorry for the multiple post, I didnt want to edit because this is probably pretty important... You want to watch out for SILICA , my boyfriend informed me thats what I was told to watch out for, and most play sand contains this. here's the definition for SILICA

Silica- A white or colorless crystalline compound, SiO2, occurring abundantly as quartz, sand, flint, agate, and many other minerals and used to manufacture a wide variety of materials, especially glass and concrete.

It gets into the fishes gills, and burns them.

[DavidDoyle]

Silica and silicates occur in many forms due to the unusual bonding properties of this mineral. As sand, glass, quartz etc it is totally tank safe. In other forms it is not.

A lot of snadblasting sand is made from slag. I know a number of people who use it in tanks. Black Beauty is a nice black blasting sand that costs about 10$/100 lbs and can be used in tanks.

[soshesays]

Okay so all in all it's been used in tanks, and IS safe? lol.. if so, I am VERY happy!!!!

[ritzgirl34]

Yes. A LOT of people on this forum use play sand in their tanks, including myself. No problems so far.

[MyraVan]

Silica- A white or colorless crystalline compound, SiO2, occurring abundantly as quartz, sand, flint, agate, and many other minerals and used to manufacture a wide variety of materials, especially glass and concrete.

It gets into the fishes gills, and burns them.

Perhaps you're getting silica and silicates confused with H2S, which is hydrogen sulfide. That's pretty nasty to fish. The worst thing I know about silica and silicates is that it encourages the growth of brown algae. This doesn't look great, but is not a danger to your fish!

[melonhead]

i have play sand in my 55g and my fish are fine.
it costs $3.50 for a 50 lb. bag at home depot, as opposed to $4.00 for a 5 lb. bag at LFS.
much, much cheaper. plus, i like how it looks--natural.

peace.
LP

[Scuba Kid]

can i get it in a bright white? i saw a bag of this at my LFS and it wasnt too cheap...it would end up being 6 bux for 2 bags...SMALL bags...

[Milo]

I use play sand for my aquarium. And it is very safe if you rinse it for a few days. Those sands are very cheap, 2 or 3 dollars for a big bag.

[TheOldSalt]

Okay, STOP!

I think you guys have missed the whole point of using Southdown sand.

Southdown is not silica sand. It is oolitic aragonite.

This stuff is a good source of bioavailable calcium and buffering for saltwater tanks containing corals. It might also be good for african rift lake cichlids.
However, it isn't good for much of anything else.

If you want to save a bundle on live aragonite sand for a large saltwater reef tank, then southdown is a good way to go. Otherwise, don't bother, for you won't have any real use for it.

[Scuba Kid]

im just looking for a cheap sand sand that will be safe for my aquarium...i dont really have a neew for the added the minerals except for PH buffering

[Mr Aquarium]

I was thinking about sand as well, BUT, Knowing my Luck it would tare up the impellers in everything somehow, lol, I thought about sand off the sand bar at the small river near by and also the tiny gravel, I mean TINY, but my trip out there friday afternoon was a foop as the water is running a few feet deeper then normal....
Anyway, find ya a sand bar someplace, you gotta clean play sand anyway, and it;s nothing more then a mico sized pea gravle.

[soshesays]

Southdown sand?? I'm not sure if this is the same, but were talking about the sand you put in sand boxes

[TheOldSalt]

Yep.
The same company makes a product specifically for aquariums, but it costs a whole lot more, even though it's the exact same thing with a different label.

[Scuba Kid]

ok well ive heard enough. thanks for the help everyone!
im gonna go along with the play sand idea and pick up some for my brackish tank. i wanted to give it a more natural look of being in a brackish estuarie or pond. sand would be perfect!

thanks all!