Sand?

[Alexis]

Hey everyone! Wow, I haven't been on these forums for a while!

ANYWAY (I'm not sure where else to post this, so sorry if I'm in the wrong forum!), my fiance and I have decided to give our 4 foot tank (can't remember how large that is in volume) a big make over. And we've decided to go with sand as substrate, because it just looks so nice. But I have a few questions:

1. Where exactly do you get sand from? We were going to go looking at a big landscaping nursery on the weekend, because we couldn't think of anywhere else.

And also:
2. What do you do to prepare it, before you put it in the tank, ETC?

Any help and advice would be nice! Thanks!

 

[Squid]

Hey everyone! Wow, I haven't been on these forums for a while!

ANYWAY (I'm not sure where else to post this, so sorry if I'm in the wrong forum!), my fiance and I have decided to give our 4 foot tank (can't remember how large that is in volume) a big make over. And we've decided to go with sand as substrate, because it just looks so nice. But I have a few questions:

1. Where exactly do you get sand from? We were going to go looking at a big landscaping nursery on the weekend, because we couldn't think of anywhere else.

And also:
2. What do you do to prepare it, before you put it in the tank, ETC?

Any help and advice would be nice! Thanks!

Careful of sharp sand at the nursery. The main things are that it is not sharp, and non-toxic. My sand was play sand, which has to be pretty un-abraisive (not sure if thats a word ) and non-toxic for the kids, so this is a safe bet. It's cheap too. In the UK it was £2.49 for 15kg. Others use pool filter sand, so you could go somewhere that deals with swimming pools and ask whether their sand is non-toxic. The stuff at your LFS is just too expensive.

How to prepare it: well i put about filled a bucket up a third with some sand, put it under the tap in the bath and swirled it around for a while. Let the water overflow over the top of the bucket (don't swirl too much so that sand goes over the top too. some is inevitable, but really not much). When the water overflowing has turned clear, your sand is ready. Empty that bucket full, and start on the next. Doesn't take too long..

Squid

 

[Alexis]

Thanks heaps, Squid! I'd never thought about checking out swimming pool places! XP