White Aquarium Sand

[josh_g]

anyone know a good place to get some nice white aquarium sand enough to fill a juwel trigon 190 deep enough for me to be able to safely place rocks and plants without them tumbling over? Cheap as possible really got a baby on the way so my aquarium budget has gone down alot lol
 
thankies

 

[elmo666]

Not sure about "white" sand, but children's play sand is a very popular choice, both for its light appearance and cheap price, as not aimed at aquarists' lol. Its safe as it is intended for kids play pits, and ofcourse its fair to say some is expected to end up in their mouths . A good rinse is all that's needed. Put it in a large bucket, maybe a quarter filled with the sand, gentle flow from a hose pipe and slowly stir it. Just repeat the process until its all done.

 

[Fishmanic]

go to a pool supply store---you can buy pool filter sand for about $11-$13 for a 50 pound bag and it is pure white fine sand.

 

[simplyfish]

I've used 'Sharp' sand in the past. I got it from the DIY store for about £3.00 a bag. I only needed one for my 40g, but its so cheap it doesn't really matter. Its a very pale fine sand, make sure you wash it extra well before it goes in, and at water changes it can still swirl if you're not careful so I used to turn the filters off whilst I did it. 
 
FWIW I recently replaced with a darker sand and more impressed with the appearance, the fish colours seem to stand out better....

 

[josh_g]

I've always normally used tesco's play sand but I want to go with something a bit lighter in colour this time. Found some nice white quartz sand only a bit pricey but looks nice though might give that a go thanks for your suggestions

 

[ShinySideUp]

Sharp sand is not a good idea. It is untreated sand for mixing with cement and gravel for concrete, it can contain anything, silicates, salt, anything, and you won't be able to wash it out properly. If you only want about an inch of sand in your tank you would not break the bank to buy proper aquarium sand from your LFS. Ball park, I wouldn't think you would have to pay more than fifteen quid and you would have peace of mind that it is the right stuff.

 

[Brilly91]

I dont think youll get a nice white sand cheap anywhere to be honest its rather specialist, id just do it right and do it once. Itll be cheaper in the long run.

 

[josh_g]

Yeh went with the quartz white sand well it's not pure white but close enough and was only £10 a bag so i bought 2 will deffo be enough to have a deep enough sand bed for what i need

 

[gmc1]

I just ordered white silica sand from eBay.co.uk.

 

[tunagirll]

Just so you guys know white sand is quartz particles that are primarily silica.