Sand in tank

[Chloem07]

Hellooo,

Im in the process of switching my tank too tropical.
Im planning to have just guppys in there at the moment, i love the colours and movement of them. Im on abit of a budget and i have just regular playing sand for the base. Is that ok to use? Or do i have to buy sand especially for fish? I have washed it, i will give another wash before i put in; just wanted to check that playing sand is ok.

Any information about Guppies is of course also welcome x

Thanks a million x
Chloe xox

 

[Oblio]

I'm not in the UK, but I understand washed play sand is fine.
What are your water parameters from the tap, in particular KH, GH, pH?

 

[Guyb93]

Hellooo,

Im in the process of switching my tank too tropical.
Im planning to have just guppys in there at the moment, i love the colours and movement of them. Im on abit of a budget and i have just regular playing sand for the base. Is that ok to use? Or do i have to buy sand especially for fish? I have washed it, i will give another wash before i put in; just wanted to check that playing sand is ok.

Any information about Guppies is of course also welcome x

Thanks a million x
Chloe xox

I use play sand and it’s a good fine substrate iv always found , it takes a lot of washing and I’d always wash it again even after I’ve washed it ... iv never had any luck planting in it but that’s probably just my luck with plants

 

[Rocky998]

Yup, just rinse it out VERY well until water runs clear.

 

[GaryE]

I tried two local play sands today - a cream coloured one, and a red toned one. I checked them for their effect on water chemistry, and they were no problem. But even rinsed, they took some extra rinsing. You can get a cloudy tank for a day or two, but it does settle.

 

[Essjay]

As you are in London, the chances are you have hard to very hard water, though it is still worth checking on your water company website to make sure. Look for a number and the unit of measurement rather than words. Hard water is perfect for guppies.

Argos play sand is used by many UK members. If yours is a different brand, tell us what it is as someone has probably used it. If it's safe for children, who will probably eat some of it, it should be safe for fish. It may possibly have things in it which could increase water hardness, but if you have hard water anyway it wouldn't make much difference.

 

[FishHobby99]

Hellooo,

Im in the process of switching my tank too tropical.
Im planning to have just guppys in there at the moment, i love the colours and movement of them. Im on abit of a budget and i have just regular playing sand for the base. Is that ok to use? Or do i have to buy sand especially for fish? I have washed it, i will give another wash before i put in; just wanted to check that playing sand is ok.

Any information about Guppies is of course also welcome x

Thanks a million x
Chloe xox

I buy Playsand at Lowes for $5 for 50 pds. Pain in buttocks to rinse several times to remove dust, but an attractive practical substrate

 

[AbbeysDad]

Play sand is fine - my friend @Byron used it in pretty much all of his tanks. I've used it, but if not washed well it has a lot of fines that result in cloudy water. I'm a big fan of pool filter sand and in some tanks I have play sand topped with pool filter sand.

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, most tetras, barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

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If you want to breed guppies, buy a group of females and no males. Have lots of plants in the tank and let the females breed. They can carry sperm packets from previous matings and don't need a male until they run out of sperm packets. This could be 6-12 months later, by which time you should have lots of them.

If you want colour, just get a group of male guppies and no females.