# sand in aquarium



## Windex

i know there are alot of people wanting to know about putting sand in aquariums. 

today i went to home depot and got a bag of "play sand" for like 2.50 and a 5 gal bucket for about 5 bucks. 

when i got him i put all 5 lbs of the sand in the bucket and stuck the water hose in it. at first i let the hose on the bottom stir the sand around and the cloudy water would just over flow. if you arent sure if it is sand or just the slit and other "junk" in the sand stick your hand in the over flow and if no sand is giong into your hand you are fine.

after a while i would fill the bucket up and swirl it around then dump the water till you could see the sand fixing to come out of the bucket. over and over.

about 20 mins later i desided i was to tired to do this anymore and took the sand in and dumped it into the aquarium. i filled it up half way and i guess what did worked because it is barely cloudy. just new fish tank cloudy. i even let the hose run into the sand without putting my hand in the way.

just a cheap way of getting a great looking substraight. 

will revise this and post pics tomorrow after i get up. im dog tired and wanted to get the general idea down while i was fresh =P

Windex


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## Bear

Nice Pics! 

I did sort of the same thing when I added sand to my cichlid tank. I bought some silica sand from The Home Depot and a 5 gal bucket. I did it just a tad differently though. Instead of all of the sand in the bucket I did a little at a time, to be sure and get all of the nasty out. I would do a pitcher full of sand each time, fill the bucket with water while stirring the sand, then pouring the silt out. The whole process took a very long time (much like rinsing 1.57L of Black Diamond carbon), but was very much worth it. Was like $5 for 50 lbs and looked fantastic.


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## flamingo

Play sand is okay, if you like the look of it. Personally, I don't like the stuff. Lookwise, and functionality. While it's a good substrate for fish that bury, etc. it also compacts easily and creates anaerobic pockets.


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## Reefneck

This may be fine for freshwater aquariums but I do want everyone to know that this is not advised in saltwater aquariums ever!

The Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart or wherever Play sand is Silica sand and loaded with silicates creating an algae nightmare in saltwater tanks. A while back you could find sand at these places that were Caribbean aragonite sand but it is no longer available.

Always be sure to use Aragonite Sand in a saltwater setup.


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## Bear

yes, thats true, silica sand could prove to be pretty bad in SW tanks. It would cause diatom blooms whenever some silica leached out and because of how sharp the sand grains are it could be painful to bottom dwellers.


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## Windex

ill clean it up when i get time, and post refrences from other threads on this topic.


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## Windex

bear, what kind of rock is that in your tank?


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## Bear

Those were just lace rock. Very cheap. very cool looking rock.


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## flamingo

I've been thinking of using lace rock for a saltwater tank... It's looks pretty neat, and it's cheap for a large quantity.


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## Bear

It also does not leach stuff into the water so it would be safe to use as base rock in a SW tank.


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## clavo

Would the HD or WM playsand be bad in brackish env.?


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## Guest

Also, what is the best way to clean sand? if you use a siphon, it'll suck it right up. i was thinking of using a turkey baster to suck up waste then refill the tank, also using the time to do a water change. will i have to stire the sand as well to stop air pockets? or is there some kind of fish or snail that can do that for me?


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## fishbone

I also personally prefer pool filter sand over play sand, after having used both


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## SueM

Malaysian trumpet snails are excellent for sand or any other substraight, specially in planted tanks. They burrow down in the sand during the day and come out like storm troupers at night and devour Algae, yet they will not eat plants. But they do a great job of keeping the substraight stirred up, kinda like earth worms for aquariums. Spixi snails are also great burrowers, but they WILL eat your plants. Loaches are another good one if your sand isn't to deep.


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## Guest

my tank is too small for loaches, its a 10, i kinda don't want MTS cause i don't want my tank over run with them, and i've never heard of spixi snails. i'll have to look them up.


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## SueM

MTS are very easy to control, soon as the light starts getting dim, and they crawl up the glass, just use a net and swip em off the glass.


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## Guest

if your sand layer is half an inch thick or so you dont have to worry about getting a build up of stuff in it. this is my preferred method, but some people dont like the look of so little sand.


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## SueM

I agree Mike, the only time I use that little substraight is in my "bare bottom" tanks, I still add a thin layer, easy to clean and the fry don't get lost, but I think the adults are more comfortable. 
Plus I also have the advantage of having my syphon hose from my 2 upstairs fishrooms threaded threw the floor and down into the basement, where it drains into a bucket before over flowing into the drains. When I didnt have that bonus, I would always vacuum my sand tanks into a bucket, man what a pain that was.


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## Guest

i actually use a filter sand here that is a bit more coarse, but i can vac it with out sucking it up . i love the stuff. i didnt go for play sand because i think its just a mess, you have to rinse and rinse and rinse...and its still dirty. find a filter sand, or sand blasting sand of some kind, they are usually more dense so they sink faster, and are much cleaner


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## jmac510

i was wondering could u mix sand with gravel


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## Sowilu

jmac510 said:


> i was wondering could u mix sand with gravel


Yes you can. Some ppl mix the two so that the sand won't get sucked up by the filter. I don't know much about mixing sand and gravel but other ppl might be able to tell you more.


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## BV77

when you mix sand and gravel, the gravel migrates to the top, and the sand compacts under it.


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## sdfssddff

BV77 said:


> when you mix sand and gravel, the gravel migrates to the top, and the sand compacts under it.



so would this setup be sutable for a planted tank? with small Beach (not from the beach) Pebbles as the gravel?


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