Type of sand?

[Cory1990]

I talked to a guy at a small mom and pop fish store today about going to sand, he told me regular sand that you find in sand boxes work best for freshwater he also told me I could just go get a 5gallon bucket of sand from a local lake and that would also work. Is this true? Just sandbox sand? He called it "play sand"


I cleaned my 55g out completely today and moved the fish to another tank. I'm hopping to get this tank back running this week. I also want to have sand "ruffed" to make it look as natural as possible.

[BV77]

Play sand works, I get sand from a local gravel pit. The product I like is mason sand. That is the sand used by stone masons. It rinses out real well and is heavy enough to not get sucked up by filters or when vacuuming. Be careful not to get it too deep or anerobic pockets will develop. They will release hydrogen sulfide gas, which is harmful to the fish and is what gives a tank that "rotten egg smell". Keep the sand layer thin and move it around a bit when vacuuming and there shouldn't be any problems.

[Cory1990]

Originally Posted by BV77 Play sand works, I get sand from a local gravel pit. The product I like is mason sand. That is the sand used by stone masons. It rinses out real well and is heavy enough to not get sucked up by filters or when vacuuming. Be careful not to get it too deep or anerobic pockets will develop. They will release hydrogen sulfide gas, which is harmful to the fish and is what gives a tank that "rotten egg smell". Keep the sand layer thin and move it around a bit when vacuuming and there shouldn't be any problems.

So i should be able to use the play sand? How thick is recommended? I was thinking of going to 3inchs deep in some spots to give it a natural looking bottom.

[emc7]

You can use play sand, but it takes more rinsing than other sand. Another commonly recommend cheap, coarse sand is "pool filter sand" that you get at pool supply place.

[Cory1990]

There are no pool stores in my area unless I want to take a trip and my truck gets horrible mpg. I'm going to head to the hardware store tomorrow to grab some of the sand. How should I go about cleaning the sand? I've already emptied the tank and scrubbed it top to bottom clean. I'm also going to be putting some plants in there tomorrow as well. So are the plants going to grow in the sand?

[BettaGuy]

You would put it in a bucket and then flush it with water, stiring it while the water is still on. Since the sand is heavy it will not get washed out of the bucket by the water but the dirt will. Do this outside so that the dirt doesn't clog up any of your drains. I just did it this weekend with silica sand and I got it rerally clean this way. Just make sure that you don't stir the sand to violently as you will lif it out of the bucket if you do.

[Maine_Fish]

I think what kind of sand you go with is a matter of personal preference.

I use pool filter sand in most of my tanks, and I've been very satisfied with the results. It usually needs very little rinsing, and has larger grains, which I think helps keep the sand from clouding up and getting into filters.