beach sand question

[mellowvision]

there are several beaches along naragansett bay in rhode island that have grey sand. it's fairly dark, not black... but uniformly grey. I'd really like this color of sand for a tank I may build.

1. how bad of an idea is it to try to use salt beach sand in a fresh water tank?

2. will boiling and repeated rinsing make it usable?

3. have you seen commercially available grey sand?


any input is appreciated.

 

[soobie]

I have beach gravel in one of my tanks, river sand in the other. I collected both, and haven't had any problems whatsoever. Wash well to get the salt off, bleach if you want, rinse again, and let dry in the sun. Good to go.

Do be aware that shell fragments in the sand may raise your pH.

If it's an area that is likely to contain industrial (or other) toxins, I wouldn't risk it, though.

 

[Sploke]

I used a bunch of rock from Bonnet Shores in my turtle tank. I just boiled them in a pot for a while to kill everything off and get all the salt off. I think if you boil it and rinse it really well you shouldn't have any issues.