Sand

Where the heck can I find aquarium sand for freshwater tanks?

I hear 100% silica sand is the type to get. I went today to try and find some. I went to lowes, and homedepot. Also I went to Wal-mart. Petsmart is the LFS here in my town, and they dont have any sand besides sand used for salt water.

Im trying to find enough sand to fill my 75g tank. I figure about an 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches of sand? would that be enough?

BTW its going to be a cichlid tank if that helps. My fish are going to require fairly neutral ph (firemouths definetly, maybe jacks, and if I can find salvini's).

I've even looked online at www.thatfishplace.com (thatpetplace.com), Bigalsonline.com, those are the only two that I know of. Even aquabid.com (ebay type auctions for fish and fish supplies).

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance
 
The Petsmarts I've been to have had Tahitan Moon Sand. Not good for a planted tank but nice looking. I think they carry a differnt black sand that is better suited for plants. I bought 50 pounds of play sand at Manards many months ago and have seen sandbox sand available at many hardware or home improvement stores. Ace, Home Debot, and Menards all seem to have some type of sand it may be out of season now, but they do carry it.
-Neo Sithlord
 
I am using Pool Filter sand from Home Depot in my tank. It's a nice light color when the Flourescent light hits it.
 
Lowes or Home Depot

has play sand. I've had a 20 gal. set up with that for a couple years.
The fish have done well in it and it is easy to siphon the stuff off the bottom.
My plants have done well in it also. It is very light tan colored.
 
I bought some playground sand from Lowes. I thought I rinsed it well but the water is still cloudy. Is there a particularly effective way to rinse the sand or will the water clear up on it's own? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
 
I used glass grit, which I got for free from a steel Mill, you can get it at most sandblasting companys, its not really sand, but it has the same effects its a nice white color, and in water it maintains its white unlike other sand, the fish like it and I do to.
 
Chump said:
I bought some playground sand from Lowes. I thought I rinsed it well but the water is still cloudy. Is there a particularly effective way to rinse the sand or will the water clear up on it's own? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

I just went thru the exact same thing this past weekend Chump, I let it sit overnight and it hadn't cleared up a whole lot so I did a 75% water change and that took care of it.
 
Yo_Loach said:
Noh man playground sand is no good, it will Rot over time, get something else.
I'm sure that you're speaking from experience, but it won't 'rot' at all, it's just silica, there's nothing to rot. Perhaps you just mean that because it's so fine and white anything that managed to sink down and decay really sticks out?

Anyway, I found play sand too fine for my tastes, although maybe for a cichlid tank it's what you want.

My choice was pool filter/sand blasting sand #2 mesh (I think, it's been a while since I actually looked at the bag). A local quarry gave me 2 40kg bags as free samples and I couldn't be happier with it. Check your yellow pages for 'sand' and 'sand blasting', contact local quarries and check out landscaping suppliers. All of these should have tons for you to choose from.
 
AquariaCentral.com