sand?

[specks]

Argos playsand 15kg £2.49.

 

[wrs]

there are certain types of sands that never come clean though. I have experiance with that.

Also, a paint strainer is a good way to wash the sand, wait till the water comes out clear. It should be fine then.

 

[Angry_Platy]

I got my sand from a hardware store. It was sold as "washed sand" with the packaging saying "suitable for playpits, concreting.....". Suffice it to say I can't imagine they would have washed it very well considering the crap that came out of it during my washing of it.

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

i have a normal filter.a jewel so could i just turn the filter on ater afew hours and everything should be ok

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I don't think you'll want to turn the filter off. As far as I'm aware, the nitrifying bacteria in your filter start to die after an hour of no circulation, and are mostly gone after two hours if no new water is introduced.
Maybe you can take the media out of the filter and just set it in the tank. Maybe on a plate or something, just so it is exposed to a fresh supply.
Also, I'm using playsand for my 75 gallon Mbuna Cichlid setup, and even with their digging they hardly make any mess. Just be very careful during water changes not to stir it up. In one or two occasions, my powerhead circulators came unsuctioncupped from the wall and pointed down into the sand bed, spewing it all over the tank and getting it in the filters impellers, the sand working down into the axle and etching away at the impeller interior and the pump axle, which is a real pain to replace. So if you stir it up, just make sure you don't turn your filter back on until it settles.

 

[Isis_Nebthet]

I just added sand blasting type sand to my big tank. I didn't wash it and it was settled to perfectly clear this am. Sadly, something (probably me pouring sand) startled one of my clown loaches and it hopped tank dead before it was found.

 

[_]im]

is it possible to get colored sand? im looking for black sand to keep the color in my tank...but all i can think of is that brown natural looking sand, anybody have colored sand?

Jim

 

[SirMinion]

is it possible to get colored sand? im looking for black sand to keep the color in my tank...but all i can think of is that brown natural looking sand, anybody have colored sand?

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The most commonly available coloured sand is produced by 'CaribSea' is a variety of both natural and un natural colours.

The most commonly found CaribSea sand is called 'Tahatian Moon' and is a coarse, heavy pure black sand. I highly recommend it.