Suitable White Sand For Tropical Aquarium

[scottcuk1]

Can someone please recommend suitable white or very light coloured sand I can fill my new tank with? Also how much would I need to cover an area of 42cm (17") x 42cm (17")

I've looked around online but can only found - CaribSea White Marine Sand which reports "Can be used in Marine or Freshwater - Will not affect PH"

Is this safe to use? Its £15.67 for a 20lb bag which is pretty good value compared to others I've seen of a similar weight.

 

[kiriyama]

Can someone please recommend suitable white or very light coloured sand I can fill my new tank with? Also how much would I need to cover an area of 42cm (17") x 42cm (17")

I've looked around online but can only found - CaribSea White Marine Sand which reports "Can be used in Marine or Freshwater - Will not affect PH"

Is this safe to use? Its £15.67 for a 20lb bag which is pretty good value compared to others I've seen of a similar weight.

What about white silica sand ? I picked up a bag at LFS recently for about 6 - 7 quid, it's very fine stuff, looks nice, also check out ROMAN GRAVEL if you can find it, I had again silica sand , it was "pewter" , was off white and looked really nice in the tank, hope this helps a bit.....

 

[BethK]

try this ebay link, although, it is a tad pricey. White sand will cost you a pretty penny, compared to others but it's a lovely looking substrate.

or here

or here (cheapest but out of stock)

 

[fluffycabbage]

try this ebay link, although, it is a tad pricey. White sand will cost you a pretty penny, compared to others but it's a lovely looking substrate.

or here

or here (cheapest but out of stock)

sorry to butt in but its ok to use kiddies sand? thought it would have to have been treated or something?

 

[BethK]

a lot of people use argos playsand without issues

 

[fluffycabbage]

a lot of people use argos playsand without issues

oh really?! cool, thought it would be mega expensive! what about all the good bacteria on the substrate i currently have - wouldnt it be bad for the tank to have completely new stuff? or doesnt it matter?

 

[Channti]

Pool Filter Sand!

Mine is an off-white colour, with black specks in it. Was really cheap too.

 

[FishyWishie]

oh really?! cool, thought it would be mega expensive! what about all the good bacteria on the substrate i currently have - wouldnt it be bad for the tank to have completely new stuff? or doesnt it matter?

Very little of your bacteria is on/in your substrate anyway so it will make little or no difference to be honest.

 

[gearhead65]

oh really?! cool, thought it would be mega expensive! what about all the good bacteria on the substrate i currently have - wouldnt it be bad for the tank to have completely new stuff? or doesnt it matter?

Very little of your bacteria is on/in your substrate anyway so it will make little or no difference to be honest.

I used play sand. Looks very good and very cheap! It only costed me $4 USD for 50 lbs of sand. However, a lot of rinsing will be required. It's pretty dirty stuff, don't just throw it in.

 

[scottcuk1]

Thanks for all the replies, I wasnt sure on the policy of posting links but as it seems OK I'll probably go with one of these:
SeaPets £15.50 20lbs £4.95 p&p
aquatics-online - £15.50 20lbs £7 p&P or free on a £30+ spend.

 

[FishyWishie]

I can only speak from personal experience here regarding the first one I put 60lbs of the sea pets Carib Marine Sand in mine and it looked filthy in about 3 days flat If you do go for it be prepared to be doing sand cleaning everyday and maybe twice a day depending on how bad your fish mess it up.

I ended up covering it in another colour of sand and making it look like rock layers from the front of the tank perspective.