Is playground sand from Home Depot okay or do I need filter or special sand? I use the playground sand for my land hermit crabs with no problems... Just for reference.
Sand?
- Thread starter captmicha
- Start date
DAVIDFBT
Extinct? Since when?
I put my sand in a large rubbermaid storage container and threw in the hose. I just sifted and sifted and then sifted A LOT more until the water ran pretty much clear. Then I drained as much water as I could and then just transferred the wet sand in to the tank.
Most pool/play sands are silica based so, in using them you may have a short duration diatom bloom. After that, they will not alter the water chemistry.
Some sands are calcium based. The easy way to check if there is a calcium component in the sand is to place a small amount of the sand in a glass container and add some distilled white vinegar. If it fizzes it has calcium in it. The greater the fizzing, the greater the calcium portion. These sand are usually sold as "NOT RECOMMENDED FOR AQUARIUM USE" because of a lawsuit years ago. The same company that mines sand sold for reef tanks was packaging it simply as play sand "sterilized, from the Caribbean". Since the play sand was selling at $4-$5 for a 50 pound bag while reef tank sand was selling for $30-$45 for a 30 pound bag, the reef tank companies got upset. I still see the stuff sold as play sand at my local supermarket. These sands are a good addition to hardwater tanks as they will keep the tank buffered.
Charlie
Some sands are calcium based. The easy way to check if there is a calcium component in the sand is to place a small amount of the sand in a glass container and add some distilled white vinegar. If it fizzes it has calcium in it. The greater the fizzing, the greater the calcium portion. These sand are usually sold as "NOT RECOMMENDED FOR AQUARIUM USE" because of a lawsuit years ago. The same company that mines sand sold for reef tanks was packaging it simply as play sand "sterilized, from the Caribbean". Since the play sand was selling at $4-$5 for a 50 pound bag while reef tank sand was selling for $30-$45 for a 30 pound bag, the reef tank companies got upset. I still see the stuff sold as play sand at my local supermarket. These sands are a good addition to hardwater tanks as they will keep the tank buffered.
Charlie
I used play sand in 3 different tanks. Never had a problem with it at all. As for rinsing, I just put a bit at a time in a 5g bucket ran water over it..stirred it then dumped the water out (the sand stayed in the bucket, so I lost little) dump the water slowly did this a few times and added to the tank, then added more in the bucket and did the same thing. When I filled the tank I poured the water through a strainer (a plate upside down works to) this spreads the water out instead of it pounding down on the sand. It may be a little cloudy at first when filled, but mine cleared rather quickly.
If its silica based that means the water may always have problems with diatoms????