Sand In A Tank....

[freerunner416]

Hi,

I have been thinking about going back to sand for my substrate, but couldn't remember what to buy... After searching i see many people are mentioning the Argos play sand.

Does this look quite light once in the tank as its kind of yellowish in the pictures?

Can anybody suggest any alternatives?

Thank you in advance

 

[daizeUK]

Mine looks like golden beach sand (I bought it from Tesco's, same price as Argos) but my nieces have brown sand in their playpit, think it might be Argos but not sure.

 

[techen]

Argos play sand looks really bright when its underwater. Really nice stuff.

 

[freerunner416]

Thanks for the replies.

Do you have to do much to the sand before hand or is it just pop it in and wait a week for it to settle?

 

[Sharpy1987]

You have to wash the argos sand quite a lot

 

[daizeUK]

I spent at least an hour rinsing my sand thoroughly and put it in and there was no dust or cloudiness at all. The water's been crystal clear ever since.

 

[freerunner416]

brilliant thanks

By washing it you mean.... (stupid question

)

putting it in a bucket and running the water through it while moving the sand and letting it over flow?

 

[KCB]

putting it in a bucket and running the water through it while moving the sand and letting it over flow?

That's it. Also, it might help to do a bit at a time.

 

[the_lock_man]

Here's a tip for ya. Pierce a load of holes in the bag of sand. Place your garden hose through one of these holes. Turn the tap on. Go and watch the footy. Come back at half time. Job done. None of ya frozen hands cos of the cold water, no filling and refilling your bucket, no effort in swishing the sand through.

Ooh. Sorry, I just spotted, you're Scottish. Might not want to watch the footy, it might be too depressing for you. Try something else for 45 minutes.

 

[techen]

This is how I cleaned mine, Pour out the dirty water till it goes clear.

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Last week I changed my 100 litre from gravel to sand. I used Aquarium Gravel Sand from Pets&Home. I didn't wash it in the traditional way, but just filled up a soft drinks bottle with dry sand straight from the bag using a funnel, sat it vertically in the tank until it filled with water and all air had escaped, then inverted the bottle and deposited the sand in the aquarium, keeping the opening about an inch off the bottom. After 2-3 minutes, all the sand is washed and at the bottom of the tank, and you're left with a bottle full of dirty water which you just remove from the tank. Using this method took about half hour from opening the 8kg bag to switching filter back on and admiring my work. Within an hour the tank had completely cleared. No fuss, all done indoors, no mess, not even a drop of water spilt! Looks great and my corys and shrimp are much happier! Even did the switch without removing the fish from the tank. Would recommend this method (there are a couple of Youtube videos showing it), and I would definately use it again. And the Pets@Home sand.

 

[plectastic]

Bought 15kg of Argos playsand yesterday and spent a good hour or so washing it bit by bit. About 4 bucket (10L) loads. I thought it would be dark and orange as it was when I opened it but it's nice and light underwater as has been said. Probably about 1/5 left in the bag too as spare after laying 1-1.5 inch (planting) in the bottom of my 100L tank.

 

[freerunner416]

Here's a tip for ya. Pierce a load of holes in the bag of sand. Place your garden hose through one of these holes. Turn the tap on. Go and watch the footy. Come back at half time. Job done. None of ya frozen hands cos of the cold water, no filling and refilling your bucket, no effort in swishing the sand through.

Ooh. Sorry, I just spotted, you're Scottish. Might not want to watch the footy, it might be too depressing for you. Try something else for 45 minutes.

Grrrrr

- you may have a point buddy haha.

Thanks for the tip...

Bought 15kg of Argos playsand yesterday and spent a good hour or so washing it bit by bit. About 4 bucket (10L) loads. I thought it would be dark and orange as it was when I opened it but it's nice and light underwater as has been said. Probably about 1/5 left in the bag too as spare after laying 1-1.5 inch (planting) in the bottom of my 100L tank.

Thank you