sand gravel
- Thread starter dvsgp6
- Start date
I wouldn't IMO. Think about this. People not only pee in the water, think about all the people who spit, or throw their cigarette buts. dogs who use the bathroom, beer that gets spilled, animals who die and rot on top of it, countless peoples feet that trample over it, the list goes on and on. Then think about taking that filthy media and "cleaning" and by the "" i mean just getting the dust particles out, you cant disinfect sand (id add some bleach if you do). Dumping it in your tank and hoping that nothing weird leaches out and kills your fish. NO THANKS!! But then again the sand could be perfectly fine, I just wouldn't. Just my opinion of course.
If it's a relatively unused, clean beach then it should be fine. Even if it's a well used beach, sand doesn't absorb stuff its an inert substance. Sand on the beach or the stuff you buy is pretty much the same, it's all just silicate sand. Give it a good clean in hot water, rinse and rinse and rinse again.
I would not use it...That is salt water sand and your fishes are freshwater..Anyway, gravel or LFS sand dont cost an arm and a leg..
It may help us if you fill in your location so we could assume whether your talking about freshwater or saltwater beach. I'd try it with some of the sand from [freshwater] beaches where I grew up. Not public beaches but beaches you had to boat too, and sand dunes. Its very low usage and fairly clean. But I am not paranoid about germs personally, we once had a picnic out there, I dropped a hamburger bun on the sand. Picked it up and dusted it off. Now lets say I just broke down a tank and had some dried out gravel sitting there afterward. If I were to drop a hamburger bun in that I would not pick it back up and eat it. But I suppose were talking about whats best for fish, not hamburger buns. just my $0.02
Sounds like the "5 Second Rule" in my Scout Troop!
If you drop something edible, if you pick it up in 5 seconds, it's still good to cook!
Have you given any thought to all the grease, oil, diesel fuel, exhaust, etc. spilled/leaked by the machines and heavy equipment used to quarry the gravel/sand that is in your tank now? The residue left over from blasting? Or that the workers spit, smoke, urinate, etc. all over it?
I'm sorry, I really mean no offense. I just fail to see why one would worry that much about what "could" be in sand from a beach where people frequent. Yes people pee in the water and dogs do their business. But there is allot more fish in the water than people and they do their business in it. I could go on, but I wont.
I hope this isnt considered a "flame". It's really not meant to be. I am merely trying to point out that most of the things you "might" find on a public beach arent as harmful as what one "might" find in a quarry.
I think if it's good enough for the fish in the ocean, it must be okay. My only concern would be whether or not it's okay for a freshwater aquarium since it came from a salt water environment.
sand is sand, whether it lives under salt or freshwater. If rinsed and cleaned properly, it's identical. I don't understand why this is an issue.... ?
yeah live sand and dry sand are different, but only until they're cleaned.
I didn't say it was an issue. I said that would be my only concern (the only question I'd have). Thanks for the answer.