Play Sand

[K.J.]

I heard a lot of people were suggesting play sand for an aquarium...
I tried. It was ugly. Dark gray, grainy, in general terrible. I wouldn't even play in that if I was 5. Have a lot of people ran into this problem?

 

[Torrean]

nope my play sand is white clean and beautiful...I rinsed it thouroughly maybe that's your problem.

 

[K.J.]

Nope, it was the color. I don't know if this color could transfrom into this.

 

[ridewake210]

i was gonna go this route with sand. just because of the price. but i ende dup buyin 4 20lb bags of black sand. gasp* wallet. haha uhm but it looks great.

how long did u rinse your sand for?

 

[K.J.]

mhm, didn't even bother rinsing it for longer than a half an hour, btw I never put it in the aquarium...

 

[Torrean]

are you asking me or him?

I rinsed my sand until the water cleared completely in ten seconds

 

[ridewake210]

u rinsed it for 10 seconds?

nono. u need to put the hose in a bucket with the sand in it/ turn that sucker on. move the hose around down in the sand/move the sand around with ur hands.

are you doing this? im not sure

 

[QuotheRaven]

ridewake doing the swishing with the hands takes AGGGGEESSSS I tried that with my gravel and it didn't work and the pillow case I was using broke so I couldn't do much more.......just rinse the sand in a pillow case over the top of something that you can check the water is clear and it will be safe once clear.

 

[vancouver]

pool filter sand is the best.. dont really even need to rinse it.. i just put it in the tank and did a couple water changes.

I paid $10 for a 25 lb bag.. a little more then play sand but you don't have to rinse it and it looks great.

play sand is crap.. i once wasted like 2 hours cleaning it.. it compacts in the fish tank and crap just sits on top of it.. pool filter sand is much better.

 

[ridewake210]

ok.

it doesnt take long. i dont know what way u rinse sand with buckets. but fill a 5 or 7 g bucket abput 1/4 way full of your sand and stick ur garden hose in it. swich i around. the sand wont get washed away it will sink ot the bottom of the bucket. leave the hose running in it with our u messing with it for about 15 minutes and then go check it. it works. beleive me

but yea. like vancouver said. play sand does suck!

 

[xJake]

I don't use play sand as it is designed for childrens' play and has too small granules and gets compacted too easily. I use all-purpose sand that looks more like standard beach sand and has larger granules and stays nice and soft and fluffy.