Quikrete Playsand

duyisalilaznboi

duyisalilaznboi

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Apr 2, 2009
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So like 2-3 days ago, I went to Home Depot to get the new A/C, when it occurred to me that they have sand here that I can used for my 10 gallon. Hauling the 50lb bag into the car and into the house was ease, but washing it haven't! No matter what I do it doesnt seem to stop releasing tiny dirt particles, so i tried it in a small 1.5 gallon little fish bowls that I bought for a betta a few years back, when I didnt know anything about the real fish hobby, and found out that if i poor water in slowly enough, no dirt comes off and it stays clean, can I do this with the 10 gallon, without washing it and stuff?
PS: Im thinking of making the tank planted, do I have to put a layer of soil or some kind of substrate like eco-complete, and flourite, something along those lines underneath the sand?? Or am I good to go with the sand alone?
 
duyisalilaznboi said:
So like 2-3 days ago, I went to Home Depot to get the new A/C, when it occurred to me that they have sand here that I can used for my 10 gallon. Hauling the 50lb bag into the car and into the house was ease, but washing it haven't! No matter what I do it doesnt seem to stop releasing tiny dirt particles, so i tried it in a small 1.5 gallon little fish bowls that I bought for a betta a few years back, when I didnt know anything about the real fish hobby, and found out that if i poor water in slowly enough, no dirt comes off and it stays clean, can I do this with the 10 gallon, without washing it and stuff?
PS: Im thinking of making the tank planted, do I have to put a layer of soil or some kind of substrate like eco-complete, and flourite, something along those lines underneath the sand?? Or am I good to go with the sand alone?
Click to expand...
Easy answer: no.

Which plants are you thinking of? Most do not need any special substrate.
 
I have the exact same thing in my tank, just sand... nothing else. My plants do great. I found that if I put the sand in first, then pour water in slowly into a bowl in the tank (always held with the brim of the bowl as close to the water level as I can) I get the least amount of muck in the water. When you finish filling the tank this way, you will most likely have to do a few immediate water changes before the tank looks clear. It may still be slightly cloudy, but it will settle itself over a few days.
 
Make sure that when your buying from Home Depot, to read the mix list. A lot of their sand mix contains concrete. I got quartz sand from there. 100 lbs for $5:D
 
Playsand shouldn't have concrete in it! I got mine from Home Depot and it seems fine- definately no tell-tale signs of concrete- no buffering etc, I have very soft water if I don't add stuff to it.

If in doubt pool-filter sand would work slightly more expensive than play sand but still cheap- and much less a nightmare to clean.

Yes, play sand is a nightmare to wash... it takes forever... I didn't wash mine thoroughly enough and had cloudy water for a week.

Assuming you're running a HOB filter... Sponge filters do a much better job of buffing it out the water than a HOB. I have both running in my tank. If you have a cannister it'll take particles out too.

Can't do that- try putting a sponge over your HOB intake.



But- what worked the best for me was....

.... PAPER TOWELS!!!!! Ahh yes, the magic household object! ;)

Get an elastic band and attach a paper towel to your filter intake... if you've got a lot of sand particles floating around you may need to change the paper towel every few hours- but in less than half a day it did the trick for me. (after days of trying to uncloud the water using sponges and chemical clarifiers).


BTW- after a nightmare first week I've had crystal clear water ever since.


I would try washing the play sand really well- but chance are you can never wash it enough!


As for special soil... Sand will work fine- especially for most stem plants... if you get an Amazon sword or root-feeding plant you can always put a root tab near the roots.

For plant specialists- yeah special soil may add some benefits- but for the average plant grower it probably isn't necessary.
 
benzjamin13 said:
Make sure that when your buying from Home Depot, to read the mix list. A lot of their sand mix contains concrete. I got quartz sand from there. 100 lbs for $5:D
Click to expand...

Play or pool filter sand is just sand..."sand mix" is in the concrete/mortar section and contains portland cement and sand (it's concrete without the gravel).

It would be REALLY obvious if you had bought sand mix. No worries...

A wheelbarrow is a great tool for rinsing 10-20lbs of sand at a time..if you have access to one.

ditto, pool filter sand tends to be less dusty out of the bag than play sand.

May want to add some MTS to the sand...or plan on stirring it...
 
When I was looking for sand, I was at HD and a lot of their sand had concrete listed in the mix. There was a few that didn't, but just letting people know.:)
 
i use it in my planted 75 gal. i have 1x 10,000k and 3x 6,500 t-8 over it and get algea in the sand against the glass. though this could be from the window.
anyways my plants love it my assassins love it and so do my albino cories
 
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