Has any1 used ''play sand'' in their tank from kent or home depot?if so pls read

[Paroon Shark]

hello
i am wondering if it is ok to use play sand in my african tank from a store like kent or home depot.i really want sand and as winter comes sand is gettin less and less available so i need answers ...thanks very much
cya

[qtaquaman]

you would be better off using crushed coral/argonite sand as it will buffer your ph up to about 7.6 assuming your africans are rift lake cichlids. Play sand tends to be fine and this will eventually wreak your filter motor, definatly use a prefilter if you use any sand.

[Paroon Shark]

wat is a prefilter and are they available at the LFS
...do u kno if the play sand is ok?? and ppl say to not use it with a pleco...is this true??

[NatakuTseng]

The play sand doesn't do a thing to the filter motors. I use it in all of my planted tanks. The fish love it and much more natural. I've encountered absolutely no problems using it other than when first putting it in and having to let the tank clear up or doing several water changes to remove the silt. The Stuff looks much better than anything else. As far as buffering, just use baking soda for your buffer, its a safe way to increase your water hardness for the africans, and or add some coral pieces to your rift lake setup. Malawiis aren't as picky about their water pH as the Tangyanikan cichlids, you can get away with a lot more and not have probs. I suggest using the play sand to anyone as a substrate its just simply the best stuff I have found. Once you establish the tank the sand doesn't stir up easily and takes a lot to cloud the water. As far as vaccuming, you basically just need to skim over the top of the sand and suck up any debris that lay on the top, since they don't readily penetrate the sand layer there isn't any need to for traditional gravel vaccuming. I love the stuff and won't use gravel again.

[Paroon Shark]

i was planning on buy my sand and fish at the same time tomorro but it mite not be such a good idea since there is silt(?) after u add the play sand. How long will it take to settle and for the silt(?) to run through my filter?
maybe i should get the sand in the morning and fish later in the day. let me kno what ur thinkin. and i have herd that plecostoumas pleco dont like sand? is there any truth to this??

also is it true that i wont need any extra things for my filter?
there is also small grains of green rocks at the bottom of my tank , from the gravel that my filter nor vaccum will pick up. should i just lv them there or does anyone know how top get them out?

[sman91wing]

I use play sand in the majority of my tanks and have no problems with it, it really looks good and the fish love to dig in it.

[qtaquaman]

Yes play sand can eventually mess up power filter motors. The sand gets into the impeller area and over time grates away at it untill it needs to be replaced.
A prefilter is simply the sponge that is put in the filter chamber, buy another one and then you cut a hole in it so it snuggly fits over the power filter intake it increases the biological filtering of your tank and prevents particles and small fish from getting sucked into the filter.
The plec is ok with sand but as I said it only sillica sand you need to worry about. It will say so on the bag. A third of my tanks in fact use sand(beach)

[NatakuTseng]

I've run sand in several tanks for years and the same filters on those tanks for years and have had absolutely no problems, nor have I heard of anyone having problems with it, when I clean the filter there isn't even any sand in it, simply put. Your not going to have a problem with that. As for the fish, you need to cycle the tank first, which takes 4-6 weeks generally. If you don't chances are your going to lose a good deal of fish. Even if you were going to seed the tank with a filter cartridge that is already established, I would still put the sand in and give it a couple days before you add fish or your filter media. The cultured media needs to go in the same time as the fish or the bacteria is going to die off.

[qtaquaman]

One peosons experience does not mean everyones. I've worked at a fish store for years and several of our power filters have broken down because of fine sand use so take your chances. Either way pre filters are additionally benifical. Either way I'm not saying don't use sand, even fine sand I just unplug my filter during the minutes it takes to do a water change as an added precaution.

[Bmeasure]

I have used sand in many tanks and have used nutrient rich gravel as well (for planted tanks). The only difference I do in my sandy tanks is make sure the filter intake isn't within 2" from the bottom of the tank (because I have cichlids who dig alot). Most fish I've owned love the sand (they seem to prefer it to gravel) and it is easier to clean once the tank is established.

I personally don't think the silt from the sand would cause a problem to tank inhabitants, since I've changed substrate from gravel to sand in a tank without removing the fish. Yes, it was a slow process, but the fish appeared to show no signs of difficulty. The water was a little cloudy for the first day, but then cleared completely. Never had a problem again!

[Paroon Shark]

i just called home depot and the sand they have a premium washed and dryed playsand . but it is in fact silica sand.. so is silica sand a problem?

[daveedka]

Silica sand is more abrasive, In the rock production industry, silica is the factor we use to guesstimate abrasiveness before testing. I don't know if it will or won't hurt your filter because I haven't tested it, but I imagine it shouldn't be a big issue even if it does cause a little wear. most impellars can be replaced easily and cheaply when they get worn. Whether or not it would actually ever get in your filter would largely depend on how much current you have I would guess. Prefilters are never a bad idea IMO, but I wouldn't say you absolutely need one to protect your filter either.
Other than the possibility of filter wear( trivial IMO), silica sand whould be fine for your tank.
Dave

[qtaquaman]

The reason that silica sand is damaging to fish with barbels is that these cats by nature dig in the substrate, the abrassiveness of the silica sand can cut their barbels leading to infection-fungus-death.

[Jayhawk]

I'll add to the silica sand is harmless brigade here. I use play sand - the exact pre-washed kind you get from home depot. I've also used argonite sand in the past, and it was more abrassive by far than the silica play sand which is very rounded because your young child is expected to grind their bodily parts into it when playing.

Silica sand won't hurt your bottom feeders, will be silty at first and could clog up your filter at first (so what - wash everyting, take the impeller out and wash off the magnetic part of it and it's fine). Personally, I break down the filter and clean the impeller and all every few months (while keeping the filter media wet to keep all those nice biological friends alive), and the impeller is just as good as new despite the sand. I do keep the intake about 3 inches or so above the sand since my altispinosas sand sift a bit, and I'd use a prefilter if I had messier digging cichlids just so they wouldn't spit sand into the intake for fun which could cause your filter to clog up (I'd be less worried about the impeller breaking down and more worried about the sand clogging the area magnetic area which could cause your motor to overheat - and a convict or texas cichlid could easily spit argonite sand into the intake, too).

Eric

[fishlips]

I bought HD tropical play sand and it was way too fine. It stuck to the walls of the tank and got sucked up the filter. Way to fine = very messy. Try pool filter sand.

[Raskolnikov]

I use 20-grade pool filter quartz sand in my freshwater sandy substrate tanks. It's great.

[OxyBomb]

I used it, the only problem I ever had was that I had too much, was like an inch to two inches, I dotn remeber now, but it got all nastified by the bad things. cant think of it right now. ended up killing all my fish and stinking really bad. once I settle into my new trailer home in the spring and get my new bigger tnak im gona try it again with alot more plants.