What Sand?

[K.J.]

I decided I'm getting Corydoras Aeneus for my ten gallon but I need to switch to sand, I'd presume, as they are burrowers and my gravel would hurt them. However sand at petsmart is like, $20 dollars for a 20lb bag. I live in the US and I was wondering what people were reffering playsand to and where they bought it. At my local hardware store the "play sand" was filthy, dark brown grainy stuff. I was thinking at Home Depot or something they would have it, where did you guys find your play sand?

 

[xJake]

Don't get actual play sand, it's particles are too small and will compact like crazy creating gas pockets in the sand. You can get what's called All-Purpose Sand or Paver Sand at Home Depot that can be used and has much larger particles so it doesn't compact as easily. Simply wash it in a pillow case or bed sheet with a hose or in a laundry sink until the water runs clear. Also, it may look dark and grainy when you first buy it but once you get it home and wash all the muck off and get your aquarium lights over top of it, it looks very natural and is much lighter in color.

 

[CatLover]

Personally, I think play sand is the best choice for aquariums. It looks good, it's dirt cheap, and it has perfect sized grains. It's not too big to where it wouldn't be good for bottom-dwellers to sift through, yet it is big enough to where you don't have to worry about it floating around and not settling or being sucked up in a syphon (unless you get the syphon way too close to it - but in that case, any sand will be sucked up).

The air pockets mentioned are very easy to get rid of. Yes, toxic gases can build up in them, but an occassional poke with a stick, skewer, or other such object will take care of it. Also, your cories will take care of the problem to by constantly turning over the sand for you. Once you get the sand and water in your tank, I would take something like a wooden skewer and poke around to break up all the air bubbles.

I'm not sure what all-purpose sand or paver sand is, but if you use it, make sure it's not meant for mixing concrete or anything like that. You want just pure sand - no additives like bonding ajents or glues or chemicals. Things like that will obviously poison your whole tank.

If you go with play sand, you can get it at Lowe's for $3 for a 50lb bag. I'm sure it's just as cheap at Home Depot.

HTH!

Oh, and to answer your question - play sand usually comes in clear plastic bags, and is the sand used in children's sand boxes. The bags are usually filthy on the shelf at the store, but once washed, it is a very light, almost white color. Looks fabulous.

 

[K.J.]

Personally, I think play sand is the best choice for aquariums. It looks good, it's dirt cheap, and it has perfect sized grains. It's not too big to where it wouldn't be good for bottom-dwellers to sift through, yet it is big enough to where you don't have to worry about it floating around and not settling or being sucked up in a syphon (unless you get the syphon way too close to it - but in that case, any sand will be sucked up).

The air pockets mentioned are very easy to get rid of. Yes, toxic gases can build up in them, but an occassional poke with a stick, skewer, or other such object will take care of it. Also, your cories will take care of the problem to by constantly turning over the sand for you. Once you get the sand and water in your tank, I would take something like a wooden skewer and poke around to break up all the air bubbles.

I'm not sure what all-purpose sand or paver sand is, but if you use it, make sure it's not meant for mixing concrete or anything like that. You want just pure sand - no additives like bonding ajents or glues or chemicals. Things like that will obviously poison your whole tank.

If you go with play sand, you can get it at Lowe's for $3 for a 50lb bag. I'm sure it's just as cheap at Home Depot.

HTH!

Oh, and to answer your question - play sand usually comes in clear plastic bags, and is the sand used in children's sand boxes. The bags are usually filthy on the shelf at the store, but once washed, it is a very light, almost white color. Looks fabulous.

Hm, will it be a dark gray when you buy it?

 

[CatLover]

It's not really dark at first. It will be sort of a silvery/smokey grey.
When I bought mine, I knew I wanted play sand, but I wasn't sure what it looked like in the bag. I just asked a Lowe's employee, and they told me where it was at. The bag was clearly marked with "Play Sand."
If you have any questions, just ask an employee at your hardware store if it is the sand meant for children's sand boxes. If so, then you got the right one. It's been my experience that people in hardware places really know their stuff - unlike LFS employees!

 

[vancouver]

play sand compacts, and all the crap sits on the top of it and ends up floating around the tank and covering everything in crap..

pool filter sand.. get it from a pool store.. i paid $10 canadian for a 50 pound bag.. thats probably more then enough.. you dont have to rinse it 100s of times like play sand..

trust me when i say play sand is crap

 

[QuotheRaven]

Many say play sand is crap others say it's great I think I have play sand in my tank and it does make all the waste sit on the top however it is very light. My kuhlii's haven't burrowed into it yet which is a shame

 

[Adam86]

I decided I'm getting Corydoras Aeneus for my ten gallon but I need to switch to sand, I'd presume, as they are burrowers and my gravel would hurt them. However sand at petsmart is like, $20 dollars for a 20lb bag. I live in the US and I was wondering what people were reffering playsand to and where they bought it. At my local hardware store the "play sand" was filthy, dark brown grainy stuff. I was thinking at Home Depot or something they would have it, where did you guys find your play sand?

I use Silica Sand. My dad uses it for sand blasting and it works well. The waste does sit on the top of the sand but it is easy to clean. You can use a gravel vacume and get right on top of the sand and it want get sucked up. This sand is a tan color.

 

[dizzied]

There are different opinions on playsand probably because you two aren't using the same brand or something. With sand, you WANT the waste to sit on top so you can clean it easily with a gravel vac. It would be much harder if it went down into the sandbed.

 

[SugarQube]

I have just started my tank and have used play sand washed lots of times. I will rake over gently couple of times a week but also bought 2 Horseface loaches (nocturnal) which dig under sand all day this morning my sand looked like someone had been in there to use it as a motor track I am really glad I went for this choice of loach

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I use play sand, ask for the stuff for kids sand pit's. The waste is meant to sit on top of it, makes it easier to clean, it can look bad if it's not cleaned up but i've not found it an issue. I have 1 tank with sand and a high waste fish and I just vac twice a week and it stays clear enough.

 

[scubadoo]

I use play sand too - I think it looks great, my cory's love sifting through it and yes the poop sits on the top, but that makes it really easy to spot and vac up. its got to be better than not seeing it but know that its festering under the top layer of your gravel.

In the US you may find that the stuff we call play sand in the UK is also known as Silver sand.
Its a fine white/silver coloured sand that would have been used traditionally in fine top coat plaster mixes - before the days of gypsum.

 

[Gankutsuou]

You get what you pay for. I got a bag of the black sand and a bag of the white sand. Your aquarium settles in hours with nothing floating. With sand you have to deal with cloudiness for about 3 days, or so it seems with most people's tanks. I also like the coloring more. I think it's worth it to have a cool black and white mix, or pure black for that cash rather than a brown. It contrasts with plants so much better.

 

[Fat Boy]

I've used playsand in the past and I found it a right pain to keep clean, I've got lots of wood in my tanks and little pieces always seem to come off making bottom of the tank look unsightly, along with all the fishy do-dos.

I'v now switched to a very fine gravel in my 16g and a bigger gravel in my 125g. I much prefer the look plus it makes clean easier.

 

[nocturne]

I have play sand in my 55 cichlid/eel tank and my one AC 70 keeps getting sand particles in the impeller even through a prefilter. I have a 50lbs bag of pool filter sand I am switching to this weekend, if it doesn't work any better my fire eel and banjos are going to have to get used to a very fine gravel.

Beavis (my fire eel) hasn't really burrowed since I switched from gravel to sand, he stirs up lots of dust but doesn't burrow.