River Sand(from Builders Yard).is It Ok?

[heatherbibby]

Hi

I am looking to slip a bit of river sand in my tank to create a river effect down the middle of it and was wondering if it was ok to use. it is from a builders yard and obtained from cheshire quarrys so i know its exact origin as i ordered it.Would you do anything to it or just slip it in the tank.

Heather

 

[pauly]

I would have thought it'd be ok. Just make sure you rinse it first.

Oh and post a pic afterwards, I'm curious as to what you mean by creating a river effect.

Paul

 

[heatherbibby]

I would have thought it'd be ok. Just make sure you rinse it first.

Oh and post a pic afterwards, I'm curious as to what you mean by creating a river effect.

Paul

I had seen it refered to on some posh aquascaping websites and liked the idea,its really just a posh way of saying strip of sand down the middle to look like a river

Hev

 

[new2fishes]

I am new to this and so I could be wrong but I would think that maybe the river sand would not be sterilized and so maybe would be high in bacteria. I would either boil it (if that is possible) or bake it. I don't know if you should wash it first or not, but I would (also) wash it after.

 

[heatherbibby]

I am new to this and so I could be wrong but I would think that maybe the river sand would not be sterilized and so maybe would be high in bacteria. I would either boil it (if that is possible) or bake it. I don't know if you should wash it first or not, but I would (also) wash it after.

I wll agree with that on boiling good idea it would make sure it has no nasties in it.

the type of idea i wanted to create was link


http/showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2003...vol=2&id=75

but on a smaller scale.

 

[Davo86]

Hi

I am looking to slip a bit of river sand in my tank to create a river effect down the middle of it and was wondering if it was ok to use. it is from a builders yard and obtained from cheshire quarrys so i know its exact origin as i ordered it.Would you do anything to it or just slip it in the tank.

Heather

Would i be right in saying that your current substrate is gravel? If so it sounds like your wanting to do something similar to what i attempted when i set my tank up, i added a large quantity of sand at the one side of my tank in order to make a raised section like a river bank which sloped down meeting the gravel, about 2 months later the sand had been completely mixed in with the gravel due to my fish and the filter outlet. It looked great for a while but i would only really recommend it if your fish are too small to shake up too much of the substrate

 

[pauly]

That looks really cool. Good luck with your effort. You've definately got to post a pic though. (can you tell I love looking at other people's tanks?)

 

[Bignose]

I am new to this and so I could be wrong but I would think that maybe the river sand would not be sterilized and so maybe would be high in bacteria. I would either boil it (if that is possible) or bake it. I don't know if you should wash it first or not, but I would (also) wash it after.

Washing it is fine, but boiling is probably massive overkill (and not of the bacteria). If the sand is dry, the amount of bacteria on the sand is going to be small. It will be the same as the amount of bacteria that are on everything. If the sand is wet, there is a small chance of harmful bacteria, but if it is dry, you have nothing to worry about.

The chances of bacteria infection are incredibly small, and generally greatly overstated on forums like this. Bacteria are on everything, you can't kill them all off, you don't want to kill them all off. In fact, allowing some bacteria into the tank can be a very good thing, as it encourages biodiversity so that no one species of bacteria become dominant.

Put all this effort you would use in boiling/baking/bleaching and setup and maintain a quarantine tank. There is a far, far, far greater chance that fish you buy at the store are going to bring some disease in than a piece of sand or rock or wood are going to bring something harmful in..

 

[Inchworm]

Hi heatherbibby

Another thing to take into consideration, if you might ever want to keep cory cats or other bottom dwellers, is the shape of the individual grains of the sand. If there are sharp edges, instead of rounded ones, it could erode delicate barbels.

Play sand, an inexpensive alternative, is intended for use by toddlers and is safe for use in tanks too.

 

[wendywc]

I've seen sand that was labeled "Not Safe for Aquarium Use." Why? Because I found out it came from the same facility that also processes and bags fertilizer, so they were worried about cross-contamination. Some of those chemicals could harm pets, people, etc. So if you know the origins of the sand and you are happy with it grain-wise and safety-wise, use it.