Argos Children's Play Sand

[Zante]

It is tempting, because 15kg of sand for £3 is a lot less than we pay for aquarium sand, but is it safe?

Has anyone tried it? Will it affect hardness and ph?

 

[Cazgar]

Many people here use Argos playsand with no problems at all, do a search & you'll find loads if threads about it

 

[Zante]

Thanks, I've had a search, and I'm almost sold on it, just one more thing:
On a thread it was mentioned that the sand is fine if you're on a budget, but wouldn't use it in a planted tank. Any idea why?

 

[pacman]

I used Toys'r'Us playsand and had no problems at all. Just gave it a very thorough rinse first.

 

[aquariumart22]

I just got done washing play sand! I mixed mine with fluorite black sand for plants so I didn't have to spend so much. I have it in all of my tanks and I love it. You just have to wash it a lot. I usually rinse it for a while and then mist on top of it to see if the water stays clear, then rinse it a few more times once clear.

 

[Cazgar]

It has little or no nutrients & plants find it hard to root in it.
If you're wanting a planted tank, ask on the planted section for advice on substrates

 

[Zante]

It has little or no nutrients & plants find it hard to root in it.
If you're wanting a planted tank, ask on the planted section for advice on substrates

Ok, will do, thanks

 

[smokeyjo]

Ive got it in my tank and its a nightmare to get plants to root in. Ive had this tank for 6 months and still havent got any plants to survive in. If your goin for a tank with out real plants it fine but otherwise its no good

 

[fluttermoth]

I don't have any problems growing plants in play sand (I have the Argos one too); I have vallis, various crypts, Amazon swords, a red lotus and Indian fern doing perfectly well in it.

 

[smokeyjo]

Maybe me doing something wrong then lol

 

[Harlequins]

I use argos playsand too ... i found crypts took really well...but the vallis didn't...

 

[Akasha72]

I've also used it and now removed it.

My plants wouldn't stay in despite making it deeper around them. My PH dropped from 7 to 6 (I've not been able to prove it was the sand that caused it though but I can't find another explaination) and the mess of keeping it clean drove me nutty. I still have sand all over the place

 

[Zante]

I have at the moment about 1 inch of coarse sand, or fine gravel, your choice, basically 1mm average size. I was planning on adding another inch of play sand.

I have already established a patch of tiger vallis, a few amazon swords a crypt and a tiger lily.

 

[mike455555]

+1 for play sand iv used it in all 3 of my tanks now. just make sure you wash it

 

[cosworthlady]

+1 for play sand iv used it in all 3 of my tanks now. just make sure you wash it

i have used this sand in two of my tanks and am shocked at the ph level in them. Ok its my own fault for not checking every day but in a few weeks its dropped right down to 5 from 7. I've put in coral sand to see if that will help and doing 25% water changes every other day to raise is slowly. My tap water is 7.5. My water in Edinburgh is very soft. Thanks for reading. Btw my fish look ok.