Playsand???

[ClownieandBilly]

I am from the UK and as far as i am aware "southdown "sand is unavailable.I have costed sand from purearagonite and the oversea shipping is ridiculous.Can i use normal playsand from my local diy store?If not are there any other types of sand i can use?Would it be safe to use sand from the local beach if i boiled it first?

[OrionGirl]

You can use any small grained sand with no worries. I wouldn't recommend using local beach sand (and boiling it would be a pain) due to contaminants and the odds of introducing something nasty.

We have medium grade silica sand in all our tanks, and they're doing lovely.

[Satchmo]

I'm with Orion on the beach sand. Silica sand, as I understand it, will not leach in a high pH environment, so you should have no problems with it.

[OrionGirl]

Silica won't leach out unless the pH drops well below any normal level for any aquarium--around 3-4. At that point, the water would also be etching the glass in the tank (glass is silica, after all) and free silica-induced algae would be the least of your worries.

[gcvt]

I'm also using silica (sandblasting) sand in all my saltwater tanks and I've never had any problems. It's pure white and looks great. I think it's "125 grain".