SAnd Help

[asdf]

Can u use sand from a play ground in ur aquarium if u boil it and clean all the dust from it and sift it ?

 

[lady_tanksalot]

i used sand from my lfs and it was expensive, lots of people here use play sand from toy stores, i suppose it depends on the quality of the sand in the sandpit, it may just be builders sand which i personally would be aware of.

 

[Aquascaper]

Play sand is fine, builders sand/sharp sand/washed sand is not!

There is no need to boil it as it is inert, all you have to do is wash it thoroughly until the water runs clear. Just make sure that the packaging states that it is for playpit use.

HTH

 

[FishDan]

There is no need to boil it as it is inert, all you have to do is wash it thoroughly until the water runs clear. Just make sure that the packaging states that it is for playpit use.

I would disagree. It seems to me that s/he wants to take sand from a local playground and use it in the aquarium. If you buy sand from a Home Depot or Lowes or garden center it is inert and just needs rinsing. If one attempts to take sand that has been exposed to "the great outdoors" boiling would be a minimum requirement to attempt to remove any bacteria or other organisms that may be in the sand. Personally, sand is so inexpensive (so long as you don't "need" exotic sand or buy from your LFS) that the risks of taking sand from "the wilds" is simply not near worth it IMO.

\Dan

 

[sinistral]

I'd second FishDan's thoughts. I don't know where you live, asdf, but you can buy a 50 lb bag of playsand at Lowe's or Home Depot for about 3 US dollars. Not really worth risking it with sand that's been outside in a sandbox for a while, IMO.

Some people advocate using pool filter sand, as the grain size is a bit larger and it won't pack down as much (there is some concern that tightly packed sand in the absence of aeration contributes to the build up of anaerobic bacteria).

 

[Elisabeth83]

I bought sand from my lfs and the price wasn't too bad. It was about 12.00 for about 20 pounds. I read it needed to be washed a lot but the guy who works at the store said he used the same sand for his tank and he didn't even wash it and it wasn't hardly couldy at all. I only washed mine about 5 times and put it in the tank and it looked really good. It settled to the bottom of the tank straight away and it was just a bit cloudy. Seems sand made specifically for aquariums works the best at least in my case.

Good luck!