Play sand or beach sand as substrate?

[Raechal]

I was wondering if you could use play sand that you pick up at a hardware store as a substrate or if you can just collect beach sand and boil it and use it as substrate for a freshwater aquarium?

 

[Mr Miagi]

Um, i wouldnt really trust the hard wear shop as to where they got their sand and as to whether it was safe enough to use in my aquarium.

As for beach sand, i would only use it if i cleaned it thouroghly enough. It may raise the hardness in your tank by releasing alot of calcium into your water. Which could be bad for the type of fish you have if they prefer soft acidic water.

I would wait for a few more replies before u do anything though! lol.

Goodluck.

Benny!

 

[Raechal]

Um, i wouldnt really trust the hard wear shop as to where they got their sand as to whether it was safe enough to use in my aquarium.

As for beach sand, i would only use it if i cleaned it thouroghly enough. It may raise the hardness in your tank by releasing alot of calcium into your water.

I would wait for a few more replies befoe u do anything though! lol.

Goodluck.

Benny!

Well I just heard that people use play sand for their aquariums and I saw some at a hardwarer store for cheap. I thought it would be cool to collect some sand from the beach as well and use it. I would boil it a couple time before putting it into my aquarium. Then I would test the water params and see what it did before I added any fish.

 

[Raechal]

I read the pinned topic on sand and it said I could use play sand as it is fairly cheap. I think that is what they have at the hardware store. I will continue to look it up online as I would never just dump anything into my tank without researching it thoroughly. As the beach sand goes, they said it could be toxic because of all the crap people throw on the beach and the chances are I won't be able to get it 100% clean so I will probably stick with the play sand. If anyone else has any opinions feel free to post them. It would help me out a lot.

 

[FrAnK3333]

Go for play sand. Just when you get the play sand clean it very well. Many people use play sand so dont worry. As for beach sand, dont. If its beach sand next to an ocean, thats are tons of things that can up your ph and plus there will probaly be salt in it. As for sand by freshwater, most lakes and rivers are polluted these days so I wouldnt trust it. Just get the play sand, its cheap and safe.

 

[snowyangel]

You'll be fine with play sand. I bought only one big bag of play sand(10lb bag) for only $3 at walmart. I had enough to fill my 55gallon long and my 35 gallon tank! Hasn't killed any of my fish. Just you'll need to wash it about 35x!

 

[littlefishie]

Play sand.

You never know where the beach sand's been.

 

[Polardbear]

I just did my 75 gallon in play sand from Home Depot. Lots of people recommended it and it looks awesome. It did take a lot of rinsing. Pool filter sand is also frequently recommended.

 

[LoachLover]

I've used sand from Jerry's and Home Depot with no problems. I wouldn't collect beach sand, who knows what could be in it.