Sand As Substrate?

[DavidMc]

Hi All

I am curious to find out if I can use sand from a beach in Scotland in my new tropical tank?

I have asked around and found a lot of different opinions.

Most common is that it should be fine if a clean it thoroughly.

Any advice on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Aquascaper]

No don't risk it.

There is no way of telling what pollutants are in it and even if you wash it there may be chemicals there that you can't detect. These could leach out into your tank over time and kill everything. For the sake of buying some playsand or similar is it really worth it?

 

[DrRob]

Might also be illegal.

 

[phoenixgsd]

salt contact, dog pee, shards of glass, broken hyperdermic needles, you just never know whats in that sand, and it might be illegal as already mentioned, not worth the risk for £2.99 bag of playsand

 

[Mr.Tan]

besides probably being illegal, I wouldn't want to risk introducing anything bad into the tank. You are much better off buying already bagged sand from a pet store, as it is clean and pure and has nothing bad in it... just spend the extra money, it will save you in the long-run