Can Anyone Recommend A Good Sand?

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Athena

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Hi - I'm in the process of scaping my latest tank and although I am using a smooth natural gravel for the bulk of the substrate, I wanted to use sand in a particular area of the tank.

I've been searching online and can't seem to find the type of sand I want. I don't want crushed coral sand, black sand, silver sand or any coloured sand. I just want nice, clean, light tan, sandy-looking sand LOL

Can anyone recommend any particular sands that you found to be fairly clean (yes, I know I have to rinse rinse rinse but some sands I've read about make the water cloudy for weeks despite thorough cleaning).

I'm also in the UK - Kent - so if you know of a good sand and where I can order it online, I'd be really grateful, thanks!

Regards, Athena
 
what about argos play sand? ive read a few people using that or similar and its dead cheap.
 
I've got the Argos playsand and I'm sure it's what you want; it's sandy coloured, lol, and doesn't take a massive amount of cleaning; it took me only a couple of hours to do two 15kg bags.
 
Argos sand is the way forward. It's about £3 per bag it is what you call sandy looking sand lol
 
check out the aquatic shops for silica sand, they do a nice light colour if thats what you are after.
 
I use homebase play sand, its a more natural coloured sand. i find the argos sand to be a bit too light.

its £5 for a 20kg bag, alot easier to clean than the argos sand too i found
 
I've got the Argos playsand and I'm sure it's what you want; it's sandy coloured, lol, and doesn't take a massive amount of cleaning; it took me only a couple of hours to do two 15kg bags.

Looks like they are using another supplier for the sand, different bags and took me 40min for 30KG
 
I got some more Argos play sand last week and it seems to do the job nicely. Personally if I'm setting up a new tank I'll spend 10 mins per 15kg bag cleaning then let a spare filter do most of the work - it's usually clear within 24 hours. One of the lightest coloured play sands I've seen. Have been tempted to try Tesco for a darker coloured variety but I've not seen any in stock yet - hopefully this beautiful weather we're having will convince them to bring out the summer goods early.
 
Why not visit your local home improvement center Athena? I have found that what is sold as builder sand and as play sand can vary quite a bit from one place to the next. By simply examining what each place is selling, I find that I can often find sand that is much like what I am looking for. Some of the best sand that I have found was being sold as sand blasting sand.
 
Why not visit your local home improvement center Athena? I have found that what is sold as builder sand and as play sand can vary quite a bit from one place to the next. By simply examining what each place is selling, I find that I can often find sand that is much like what I am looking for. Some of the best sand that I have found was being sold as sand blasting sand.


I've just changed a 4 ft over from gravel to sand, i used argos and never washed it just lowered it into the water carefully and its was slightly cloudy but could still see the fish swimming about, completely clear next day, avoid BnM sand, its full of bits and really dirty i'm gonna chuck mine in the garden its not fit for fish tanks.
 
Sorry for the late response to all your suggestions - I was off on hols for 10 days.

Anyway, back to work and normal routine now, so just catching up with posts and still in need of sand. Lots of suggestions for Argos play sand... I was a bit wary about using play sand but if that's the popular choice then I shall try it out. My LFS and local pet shops don't have any natural sand in stock - Pets at Home has a silver sand but I really wanted natural sand.

Thanks for the tips.

Athena
 
I too use Playsand. I got mine from Strikes near me (Garden Centre) Playsand is deffinatly the way forward dont waste your time with expensive LFS stuff.
 
Plus if you keep corys they prefer play sand to fine gravel. I know because I moved my corys across recently.
 
Why not visit your local home improvement center Athena? I have found that what is sold as builder sand and as play sand can vary quite a bit from one place to the next. By simply examining what each place is selling, I find that I can often find sand that is much like what I am looking for. Some of the best sand that I have found was being sold as sand blasting sand.


I've just changed a 4 ft over from gravel to sand, i used argos and never washed it just lowered it into the water carefully and its was slightly cloudy but could still see the fish swimming about, completely clear next day, avoid BnM sand, its full of bits and really dirty i'm gonna chuck mine in the garden its not fit for fish tanks.

hey, just wondered how easy it was to change from gravel to sand? I'm wanting to do it but dont know if it will be more hassle than its worth as I don't have a spare tank to house the fish while I'm changing it.
 
It's not that hard. There's two ways you can go about it.

Either syphon the gravel out with a wide bore pipe, like a piece of hose (that gets the mulm hiding in your gravel out at the same time) and then lower the (well washed and rinsed!) sand in carefully with an old ice cream or margarine tub.

Or, house the fish temporarily in a plastic storage box or buckets while you strip the tank down. Fish don't actually need to be in glass tanks; that's just for our viewing convenience!

As you have corys, you should definitely make the change; they'll be so much happier :good:
 

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