[iffles]

Ok, at my LFS, I was looking at sand for my tank, when i saw a bag of building sand for £25! It was just ordinary building sand- even labeled building sand! When the house was renovated, we bought a bag the same size for something like £1-2! Is this ordinary building sand ok for my aquarium? because i really think the LFS is ripping people off , and I don't want to pay 20 times more.

So, my question is which would you buy? And do you think building sand is safe for my fish?

This post has been edited by iffles: 07 November 2009 - 03:40 PM

[boeingtech]

i don't have sand in my tank but alot of poeple on here use argos or B&Q play sand never heard of anyone using building sand

[iffles]

yeah, just wondered cos my LFS was selling building sand and wondered if that meant it was safe(ish) or that brand of building sand was safe .

[ellena]

That is well cheeky! I think any sand is OK as long as it's washed well. If you're filter's up out of the way, it doesn't matter what you've got on the bottom.

[OscarWilde]

I use crushed coral sand in my marine and freshwater tanks. Looks really nice. Have tried building\playsand before. Looks nasty IMO and can trap pockets of ammonia. Crushed coral sand is less dense so doesnt.

This post has been edited by OscarWilde: 07 November 2009 - 10:49 AM

[Haych]

depends on what building sand it is.

there is two types, the very fine sand, and the sharper denser type.

kids playsand is better as its 1; cleaner as its for children so less washing, 2; soft, 3; alot cheaper than what an LFS will sell it for!

[fishnovice]

boeingtech, on 07 November 2009 - 09:45 AM, said:

i don't have sand in my tank but alot of poeple on here use argos or B&Q play sand never heard of anyone using building sand

Don't risk building sand. Get Playsand, guaranteed safe and almost as cheap for around £2.99 a bag at Argos etc.Use it myself

[iffles]

thanks for your replies . seems like argos playsand is the go - just worried about ammonia pockets now

OscarWilde, on 07 November 2009 - 10:44 AM, said:

Have tried building\playsand before. Looks nasty IMO and can trap pockets of ammonia.

also i cant use coral sand as it will raise the pH too much . it seems everything has at least on drawback

ellena, on 07 November 2009 - 09:54 AM, said:

That is well cheeky!

lol yeah cant believe what LFS do these days!

[aly_starh]

Why dont you just get Argos play sand, thats 100% safe after a rinse.

[iffles]

yeah probably will get some of that-just OscarWilde mentioned there can be pockets of ammonia trapped in the sand because it is quite fine

any way around this?

Just added Argos play sand to the poll

[ianho]

i use silica sand, i'm sure its the same a kids sand. I was worried about ammonia pockets, and apparently silica sand doesn't produce ammonia (someone will enlighten me, the father in law says so), anyways i just sweep through the sand with my fingers every month.
oh and it cost me £12 for 3 kg.

This post has been edited by ianho: 07 November 2009 - 04:24 PM

[iffles]

ok-thanks
the argos play stuff is £2.99 for 15kgs(!). probably will pick some up today (if its still open) or 2moz
thanks for all your replies

[mattlee]

get some malaysian trumpet snails and dont put too deep a layer of sand and you should be fine the snails dig into the sand releasing any trapped gases. they do breed well though so dont put too many in.......

[iffles]

ok - will probably try one so they dont breed, unless they are like apple snails which dont over take the tank (unlike ramshorns and tadpole snails)

[OldMan47]

The problem with compacted sand that gets gas pockets in it is not ammonia. When the flow of water to an area is prevented it becomes deficient in oxygen. Different organic processes will happen in an anaerobic environment. To gain the energy needed for life, anaerobics will produce hydrogen sulfide, H2S, instead of producing CO2. Unfortunately hydrogen sulfide is a poison to mammals when it is in the form of a gas and can be poisonous to fish if it becomes dissolved in the water. It is the reason that people stir up the sand in their tanks to prevent the build of colonies of anaerobic bacteria.

[iffles]

ok- thanks OldMan. so its no the ammonia in the sand, its anaerobic bacteria thats bad. will the mts sort that out? because i would like to have live plants so i cant stir it up continuosly, uprooting them each time.

[OldMan47]

Anything that disturbs the sand to keep it from compacting and trapping non-oxygenated water will work fine. MTS have been suggested for that purpose but I just don't care much for them. It is more a personal dislike than having any real reason.

[Haych]

OldMan47, on 07 November 2009 - 09:13 PM, said:

Anything that disturbs the sand to keep it from compacting and trapping non-oxygenated water wil work fine. MTS have been suggested for that purpose but I just don't care much for them. It is more a personal dislike than having any real reason.

+1 - i hate snails!

i have corys

[iffles]

im planning on having cories and kuhlii loaches-will they do the job?

[The Other Lebowski]

iffles, on 08 November 2009 - 09:20 AM, said:

im planning on having cories and kuhlii loaches-will they do the job?

corries won't do anything, as busy as they are they barely scratch the surface. khuli may dig in, but not enough to prevent gas build up. you need trumpet snails.

or just dont lay the sand too thick. however keep in mind that you need more sand to get the equivalent plant base as gravel. sand is a lot lighter, hence more of it is needed to keep the plants rooted. 5 cm is the minimum in my mind, and that's roughly the thickness at which the gas pocket build up peril starts.

btw, i bought a 25 kilo bag of snow white Hagen-branded sand in my LFS for 20 euro. to pay that much for a bag building sand is insane.