Sand.

[Sask Aquarist]

Im planning on putting sand in my smaller 20 Gal tank to try it out. I've only ever used gravel but any recommendations on where to get sand and what i have to do to make it tank ready would be great.

 

[comocrayfish5]

i used to have sand in my 5 gallon. i used play sand which is safe. if you want to you can bake it in the oven to kill any germs. you can also get sand from the pet store. this will cost more, but you wont have to keep rinsing it to get the cloudy dust out like you would with play sand. it took about 10-20 rinses ( do it out side) to get all or most of the dust out. to clean it you use the siphon and skim across the top of the sand, but just above it. or you can do a circular motion (in a small section) and the waste will make a little tornado into the siphon. i also poke the sand afterwards to get ant trapped gasses out.

good luck!

 

[robert clements]

argos 2.99 for A 15 klo

 

[Noahs ark6]

argos 2.99 for A 15 klo

Defineatly reccomend this, i use it and it looks nice

 

[Sask Aquarist]

argos 2.99 for A 15 klo

Defineatly reccomend this, i use it and it looks nice

I don't live anywhere near this place

 

[balajake]

remember to stir it all round every few days to air it and release the nasty gasses and toxins. weve had some horror stories on here. it can end up like slurry if you dont look after it

 

[Prime Ordeal]

argos 2.99 for A 15 klo

Defineatly reccomend this, i use it and it looks nice

I don't live anywhere near this place

It's useful when you ask questions like this to have your location in your details.

 

[phoenixgsd]

argos 2.99 for A 15 klo

Defineatly reccomend this, i use it and it looks nice

I don't live anywhere near this place

are you not in the UK then? have you a equivalent shop? any toy shop that sells outdoor garden toys should stock playsand

 

[Jay-93]

argos 2.99 for A 15 klo

Defineatly reccomend this, i use it and it looks nice

I don't live anywhere near this place

It's useful when you ask questions like this to have your location in your details.

Argos is a large chain of stores in the UK. No need to state a location. I'm guessing you could find the equivalent of play sand in a Home Depot, if you live in the US.

 

[Sask Aquarist]

Got some from the local Home depot dirt cheap. 110 Lbs of play sand for 12 canadian dollars. Excellent.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Ive used both playsand and lfs bought sand. its more work to get the playsand ready for the tank, but in the end it has the same look as lfs sand for fraction of the cost. i made the switch to sand a few months ago and I will never look back!

 

[Sask Aquarist]

Ive used both playsand and lfs bought sand. its more work to get the playsand ready for the tank, but in the end it has the same look as lfs sand for fraction of the cost. i made the switch to sand a few months ago and I will never look back!

I hope I feel the same way. My #41#### lighting fixture for the tank I was gonna put the sand in crumbled in my hands when I went to change the bulb to something brighter. So the current plan is put on hold until i modify it to hold two bright lights for a planted tank =)

 

[Man of fish]

Can you use the quikrete all purpose sand the quikrete play sand I saw looked awful it was pure white.

 

[Sask Aquarist]

The quikrete play sand i bought today appears to be normal sand. It is not bright white or a dark brown hue. I think the stuff you stumbled on may be for cement as I saw the same stuff RIGHT beside the actual play sand.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Thats what I used. The quikrete...It's alot darker when wet and then goes to a nice natural light color in the tank with lights.