Shell Dwellin All Night Long!

[Shovelman]

So im making my used to be planted 10 gallon into a shell dweller tank, i dont know exactly which species im going to keep yet (suggestions anyone?) but i know im going to replace my current red fluorite gravel with sand.... which is where my big question comes in.

IS HOME DEPOT WHITE SILICA PLAY SAND SAFE TO USE??? Ive heard it was but was never able to get a definite answer! The thing that concerns me is the bag said " not for blah blah blah and aquarium usage (blah's being i forgot what it said...lol)" which i suppose even the most unintelligent fish-keepers would hold a red flag up! It seems no different then the kind you'd find in the pet store except its about 2x the size and 20$ cheaper!

Also i have some crypts in the 10 gallon currently, and i suppose they will be fine if not even more happy with the higher ph? could i pop in some vallispara (<--spelling... i know) as well?

Thanks guys and gals!

 

[Shovelman]

Anyone?

 

[kiriyama]

Can't comment on the sand as never used it. I'm guessing should be ok as have used silica sand before, it's inert and won't affect pH. I had white stuff which looked great but changed it as it was murder to keep clean and soon went green anyway, it was also very light in weight and I usually had it floating about after each water change.
Guessing the plants will be fine although I don't keep them myself . . .
Species wise would look into exLamprologus multifasciatus / exLamprologus caudopunctatus / Neolamprologus kungweensis , only one species though . . . hope this helps a bit . . .


Cheers, Sean

 

[bullit]

From England here so can answer on the home depot sand. I was gonna use a building sand though at one point but didnt get round to using it. It was the sand used for brushing on blockpaving.(kiln dry) Saying that, if its collected from a quarry i csnt see it being a prob, it may just need lots of washing. I think the finer the sand the better as some bulding sand will clump at the bottom and be to heavy. So as your going for shellys they need a sand they can move around. Have you had anymore thought on stocking. Also your valis should be fine. cheers