Children's Play Sand

[Seb Spiers]

I'm going to buy my Roma 240 today after work and need to get some sand to put in it.

Will a 15kg bag of Children's Play Sand be fine? I assume 15kg will be enough?

Do I need to do anything with the sand before I use it? I know you have to wash gravel buy can you really wash sand???

Thanks.

 

[chesterscot]

i bought a 15kg bag of playsand for my 20g when it was washed and put in it gave me about an inch in depth
scot

 

[Seb Spiers]

i bought a 15kg bag of playsand for my 20g when it was washed and put in it gave me about an inch in depth
scot

How many litres is that? Is that UK or US Gallons? Google tells me 240 litres = 53 gallons so I'll probably need 2 bags

 

[lilfishie]

i used a 15KG bag in my 60litre and this is the depth i have

 

[Seb Spiers]

i used a 15KG bag in my 60litre and this is the depth i have

I need lots then!!!! =)

 

[Davo86]

I used a 25G bag for my rio 240 and now wish i'd gone for a bit more, 2 x 15G bags should be about right

 

[Seb Spiers]

I used a 25G bag for my rio 240 and now wish i'd gone for a bit more, 2 x 15G bags should be about right

Do you have a photo dude?

 

[tyyrlym]

I used two 50lb bags for my 55 gallon and got about an inch to an inch and a half of depth out of it. Rinsing sand isn't hard, just long. Dump about ten pounds in the bottom of a five gallon bucket, blast it with a hose till you've got three or four inches on top. Stir it with your hand. Give things about three or four seconds to settle then dump out the cloudy water, repeat until the water runs clear. Don't be surprised if this takes anywhere from 20 to 50 repetitions. Before you get too discouraged remember, well rinsed sand will keep cloudiness to a minimum and in the future you can work in your tank without starting a dust storm.

 

[Attilauk]

i used 30kg in my Roma 240, its just about right imo

 

[rhostog]

You will need to wash sand, even clean children's play sand.
Put some in a bucket, add water, swish it around with your hand or a stick, pour away the water. Repeat several times. And then repeat several more.
Even better, use a hose and run it into the sand so the water overflows, for quite a long time.
I found it easier to do it in batches rather than all the sand at once.
You'll need to wash it for longer than you think, but it's easier to do this than loads of water changes if you don't wash it properly.

However thorough you are, as soon as you add water to your tank, it will almost certainly go cloudy - don't despair, it will settle after a couple of days or so. I found putting a bit of filter wool in the filter helped to remove the dust, rinsed out the wool 2 or 3 times a day, now the water is beautifully clear, and clears quickly even after disturbing the sand.

 

[Seb Spiers]

Good advice guys thanks!!


That Roma 240 looks ace =)