What Kind Of Sand Should I Use?

[Preston019]

I'm about to start setting up a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium and I know for sure that I'm going to be using sand; I just don't know what kind of sand.

I can't use Aragonite or crushed coral because they buffer the pH too high and I have fish that can't survive with the pH being high.
I'm also looking Tahitian Moon Sand, but I've read that it CAN be bad for bottom dwellers and I have a Clown Pleco so I'm not too sure about it.
I've heard about Black Diamond Grit but it can have an oily residue and come off in your tank.
And I'm also looking at pool filter sand, but I'm wanting a black sand, if at all possible.

I don't want to have to do a lot of cleaning so I'm trying to stay away from playsand.
I don't want a sand that's too fine and becomes compacted easily or a lot.

Any other suggestions would be great!

 

[dannybgoode]

I've just bought some play sand. 2 bags of Argos finest @ £3 each was plenty for my new 55 gal (48"x15"). Looked at the specialist stuff but a) it would have been £20-30 and b) it still needs washing anyway.

I split the bags of play sand into 2 bucket loads each and it took maybe 10 rinses a load. Really didn't take long and looks spot on.

I'd definitely recommend it as the way to go.

Cheers

Danny B

 

[dbanner]

I used to use play sand which I purchased from Argos. Iv also used play sand from asda and tesco. All is cheap and fine to use in tanks. It does have its problems though....

1. It needs to be rinsed a lot more than the more expensive purpose made sand which isn't too much of a problem really.

2. It's very dense when added to the water so it needs to be swirled around from time to time otherwise you will end up with an unsightly black line (bacteria) running through the middle of it.

3. Doesn't look as nice as most other sands such as black.

For the above reasons I don't use play sand in any of my tanks anymore. Instead I use black unipac Limpopo sand. It does cost more at around £20 for 25kgs but its far far better in every way... Such as the overall look in the tank, it's much lighter so doesn't need to be swirled around, it doesn't need to be rinsed as much before adding to the tank and as its black you can't see the waste left by the fish

My tank is 5 foot 120 gal and I used around 40kgs to fill it. I don't like my sand too deep. Mine is around 1/2 an inch deep which IMO is plenty. You would need around 20-25kg to fill a 55gal

 

[Preston019]

I used to use play sand which I purchased from Argos. Iv also used play sand from asda and tesco. All is cheap and fine to use in tanks. It does have its problems though....

1. It needs to be rinsed a lot more than the more expensive purpose made sand which isn't too much of a problem really.

2. It's very dense when added to the water so it needs to be swirled around from time to time otherwise you will end up with an unsightly black line (bacteria) running through the middle of it.

3. Doesn't look as nice as most other sands such as black.

For the above reasons I don't use play sand in any of my tanks anymore. Instead I use black unipac Limpopo sand. It does cost more at around £20 for 25kgs but its far far better in every way... Such as the overall look in the tank, it's much lighter so doesn't need to be swirled around, it doesn't need to be rinsed as much before adding to the tank and as its black you can't see the waste left by the fish

My tank is 5 foot 120 gal and I used around 40kgs to fill it. I don't like my sand too deep. Mine is around 1/2 an inch deep which IMO is plenty. You would need around 20-25kg to fill a 55gal

Where did you buy the black unipac limpopo sand from? Was it a local store in your area, or online?

 

[dbanner]

It was online. Chemistdirect.com (try .co.uk too as I can't remember which it was).

I have seen it in local stores too but tends to cost more

 

[bmonki]

i believe that unipac sand is also on ebay uk

 

[dbanner]

i believe that unipac sand is also on ebay uk

When I looked on eBay UK before I bought mine the only unipac black sand I found was £131 for 25kgs lol the others listed were black reptile calcium sand

 

[bmonki]

my mistake... i was thinking of this: ebay sand

 

[dbanner]

my mistake... i was thinking of this: ebay sand

Ah right.. Same sort of thing as the unipac though

 

[Essjay]

dbanner - do you find the limpopo sand affects your pH and hardness? I bought some, and being ultra-cautious checked it with vinegar - and it fizzed. So I left some in a tub of water for a week, and the pH, GH and KH all increased compared to a tub of plain water that had also stood a week. I now have a bag of unused limpopo sand in the garage!

I've not heard anyone else mentioning this increase, so I wondered what the problem was with mine.

 

[Preston019]

Well, I read up on the Unipac Limpopo sand and have found out that it buffers the water.

I'm trying to stay away from sand that will buffer the pH of my water, if that's at all possible with black sand.

 

[dbanner]

Nope. All the types of sand iv used have had zero effect on my water readings have always been exactly the same and iv never had any problems what so ever with any fish iv had.

Iv had everything from dwarf cichlids like Bolivian rams and apistogramma's, barbs such as rosy, redline torpedo and odessa, dwarf snakeheads (channa bleheri), birchirs (Senegal, delhezi and Ornate), tetras such as Congo and buenos aires, red belly piranhas, numerous plecs and catfish (upsidedown catfish and corys) and loads of South American/central American cichlids like dovii, jaguar, Oscar, Texas, sevs, JD, Firemouths, jewels, red devil, red terror, flowerhorns and buttikoferi.

I also have no problem at all growing low maintenance plants like amazon swords and vallis. I don't use ferts or co2, just have the lights on for 6 hours a day (on a timer)

 

[Crossfire]

Playsand is fine, but plain white silica sand is an option too.

It's nothing fancy, fairly cheap, and not dense, so no bacteria buildup
Safe for bottomdwellers too!
Be careful though, its so lightweight that if your not careful when siphoning during a water change you'll end up with a pound of sand in your bucket!

 

[dbanner]

Playsand is fine, but plain white silica sand is an option too.

It's nothing fancy, fairly cheap, and not dense, so no bacteria buildup
Safe for bottomdwellers too!
Be careful though, its so lightweight that if your not careful when siphoning during a water change you'll end up with a pound of sand in your bucket!

Haha funny you should mention that, I normally end up with quite a bit of my Limpopo sand in the bucket when syphoning lol I have to learn to be more careful

 

[Essjay]

Haha funny you should mention that, I normally end up with quite a bit of my Limpopo sand in the bucket when syphoning lol I have to learn to be more careful

That's interesting! I got the limpopo sand because I was told it could be cleaned like gravel. While I was waiting the week in my test I put some in a bucket of water and used a gravel cleaner on it - and it didn't suck up. I wonder if they've changed it, or if my bag was wrongly labelled?