Playsand? Who uses it?

[TipStylez]

Ok, i been to homedepot, and lowes.

Couldnt find any play sand that was a decent color other then white.

All they had, was the grey sand, that looks close to the natrual sand at my local lake.

Anyone use that color? And have a pic so i can see how it looks in water and ect?

Also, where can i get a tanish natrual look sand and not have to pay almost 30bucks for a bag?

Thanks

[is300zx]

This is the play sand that I got from Home Depot.

[Rallysman]

the play sand i had was so fine it almost looked like mud. I liked the pool filter sand better. the play sand in the pic above looks much better than the crap that I had.

[TipStylez]

I looked at the pool filter sand, all they had was the ones of chemicals in it.

I might just go with the white sand, and mix some river rocks into it to give it a more mixed color look.

But...they only sell them in 100pound bags. Haha, anyone need sand? Its $10 a bag.

Kinda like this pic.
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k175/joylynn874/?action=view&current=318da470.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch6

[Sal329]

I use it. Mine looks very close to beach sand.

[coupedefleur]

I looked at the "Deluxe" washed play sand at Lowes, and it varied considerably from bag to bag. Some was very fine, some was coarser, and some had a salt-and-pepper look where some grains were darker than others.

I would guess that they have different sand suppliers across the country, and each one probably has several quarries that have different types of sand. Bulk products like sand don't get shipped across the country if they don't have to.

[TipStylez]

Is silica sand safe? There was a warning saying its dangerious, but forgot what it said.

[Chickieepooh2u]

I got my play sand from the local gravel pit, as much as I wanted for free. It's the tan color you mentioned and a pretty fine grain too. Don't suppose you have a gravel pit nearby huh?

[kmgriff72]

My question is, if you use play sand do you have to do anything special to it before adding it into the tank?

[Rallysman]

My question is, if you use play sand do you have to do anything special to it before adding it into the tank?
rinse it like crazy

[echoofformless]

Many playsands are too fine of a grain to be used in aquaria. You'll end up with clumping, filter clogging, and often anaerobic conditions if you don't maintenance the bed often.

I always recommend either the pool filter sand, or you can use the Quikrete Medium Sand. That's with a nice medium-coarse texture which is perfect because it won't clog.

And what's more - it's already rinsed and kiln sterilized. You can put it right in the tank with no rinsing at all if you really want.

[Chuck Norris]

does anyone have trouble vacuuming their sand? I really want to get some fine grain white sand for my cichlids when i get them their new tank.

[is300zx]

I don't really have a problem with vacuuming although a very tiny amount do go down the drain.

Another alternative to play sand is 3M color quartz. Here's more info on it http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=43290

[kmgriff72]

Ok, thanks.

[TipStylez]

What about silica sand? Cichlid owners use it, and said its easyer to use then playsand because playsand has more clay and random sized grains that harder to rinse.

Im planing to get the silica sand today, so if anyone can answer my question asap then that would be great.

Thanks

[Rallysman]

if you arent keeping rays or scaleless fish (clown loaches) that could be scratched easily it should be ok.

[TipStylez]

Ok, well heres a stupid question.

Are puffers (spotted & fig 8) scaleless fish?

[coupedefleur]

What about silica sand?

Silica sand is dangerous for sandblasting. You don't want to breathe it, but if you are just pouring it into a bucket and rinsing it you should be in no danger.

When you're sandblasting the sand forms a cloud that gets in everything. I think the grains fragment as they hit whatever you're blasting and get even smaller.

[TipStylez]

^Yeah i know about that part. I used sandblasting to blast car parts.

But i was just wondering if its safe for the fish. I read almost everywhere that its safe so i guess.

And i picked up a 100pound back last night, and got it for cheap!

The price tag was $6.XX, but there was no price tag on this bag, and the guy at homedepot just said its $3 =]

[FreakIndeed]

http://www.kicksclub.org/ttt/55_Gal_SD.jpg

This tank I just converted from a 29 long a little over a week ago. It was half new sand and half established gravel until last night when I removed the gravel and smoothed out the sand. It's still very weak on decoration and only has a few fish in it (see sig). I really like the playsand. I still need to get quite a few more plants to make the Silver Dollars more comfortable. I'm also looking to get a school of a larger tetra of some sort.

Rinse your sand really, really, well. Don't be alarmed when even after rinsing it, your water turns very cloudy. Mine did, but it all settled down in a couple days.

[Pheintz]

Oooo.. purdy. I have never been a fan of really white sand substrates but that does look very nice and clean.

My play sand looks more like the first picture posted. Larger grain with tan, brown, and black particles for a very earthy natural look.

[TipStylez]

Looks nice, the sand i got was white dry, but had a tint of tan when wet so im happy.

I rinsed it about 10times...and the water is still only a little bit cloudy but its starting to clear.

[FreakIndeed]

Thanks guys and congrats on your new sand Tip!

I like the looks of it for the tank it's in. It's not very "natural" looking. However, with a tank with Silver Dollars, I'm not really going to get "natural" with the absence of live plants.

I'm going to eventually switch my other 55 Gallon to sand as well. For that switch I plan on getting some larger grain darker sand, since I will be going for the natural live planted look.

[TipStylez]

Yeah its not so natrual, but i plan on getting some small river rocks, the brown tan white ones. And mixing them in there.

BTW, anyone know a brackish water fish that shift sands?