Is Playsand An Acceptable Substrate

[markp2067]

And if so whats the rule of thumb regarding depth?

How would one go about cleaning the sand prior to placing it into the tank with out loosing too much?

I was looking at the forum and read about playsand being the non posh word for Silver sand, is this correct or do i have my wires crossed?

If i am right in this i can either pay £15 for 12.5kg of silver sand or £2.99 for 15kg of playsand from Argos.

 

[KittyKat]

Playsand is the sand made for play pits (for kids). It comes in many different colours.

I clean sand in about 3-4 inch batches in a bucket. Add sand, pour in tap water (cold or warm), stir with hand, drain, repeat until water runs clear.

For non-planted set-ups, I usually use 1-5 cm; for planted, I prefer to have 6-7 cm at the front and 10 cm at the back.

 

[markp2067]

Thank you for your reply.

So am i right i assuming that playsand is an acceptable substrate?

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

yup argos playsand comes highly recomended on here lol (use a hose to rinse tho wayyyy easier lol)

 

[markp2067]

Sorry to sound dumb but how do i drain the bucket of sand with out loosing it along with the water? I'm guessing a sieve but i'm unsure how the wife would feel about me pinching her baking sieve lol

 

[Uriel]

+ 1 for argos play sand use it in my tanks.

Wash it by filling bucket 1/3 with sand then spray water into it with hose pipe and once bucket is full pour off the water. Keep doing this until the water runs clear.

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

i just poured the water out slowly then the little bit at the bottom with the sand went in the tank lol just remember to add dechlorinator to the tank.. but i barely got 2litres of water in there with the sand

 

[markp2067]

Crikey, that couldn't be any more simple if it tried.

Thank you VERY much for the info.