sand

[coarb34]

is there any specific sand i can use for an aquarium, thinking of redoing my 64 gallon 4 foot, with normal garden sand

[Triton]

Use pool filter sand. Cheap and nice quality

[mizzoutank]

do you have a technical name for 'normal garden sand'? or what the bag calls it?

here in the states, that can mean, pool sand, play sand, etc.
knowing the components is a good thing too-some sands have components that soften water, or are high in silicates/phosphates which can cause diatoms or whatnot.

[coarb34]

normal garden sand from a garden bed,has a high clay contact, there is an underground river running through though

[Goes to 11!]

Use pool filter sand. Cheap and nice quality
+1 PFS FTW!

With the added bonus of no worries wrt nasty hitchhikers or pathogens from the wild.
:22:

[talldutchie]

That in my opinion is a bit of a moot point. I can't tihnk of anything that lives in non-riverbed sand that could hurt fish. Whatever doesn't drown is more likely to end up as food.

Pool filter sand has no nutritional content whatsoever for plants but it also does not require any washing to get rid of dust.

[coarb34]

my 4 foot tank needs a rescape, to do proper clay im looking at 300 rand a 5 kg, in us currency and weight roughly 45 dollars for a 25 pound, and pool sand is also a bit expensive, so i'm looking for a good alternitive. I know there are alot of members here in the same boat, none of us millionaires so we can buy what our friends truly need. Sucks working on a budget. My current stock of fish is one angel, 6 black skirts, 6 neons one rts and one sailfin pleco, plants 6 amazon swords plus a few other species which i can never remember

[KevinVA]

Just get some cheap play sand or all-purpose sand at Lowes/Home Depot, rinse it really well and you're good to go. That's a cheap alternative. Otherwise, go out in the backyard and dig up some dirt.

[coarb34]

ill check home depot as well

[korith]

I just use pool filter sand myself from home depot, think like $8 for a 50lb bag. Could try play sand as well. The colour of the sand can vary too apparently by region. Usually there are a few ripped bags or sand on the floor where the bags are stacked, so can look over the sand. You can rinse the sand if you want, just half fill a bucket with sand and take a garden hose to it, swirl the bucket around and let the smaller particles float out. I have done that in the past. Could also just not bother rinsing the sand, dump it all into the tank and stuff an old hob filter with pillow floss or a sponge and let that take care of any small particles.

[coarb34]

tank has been redone with some nice reddish brown sand, witch washing sand several times, the plants really love it, only a minor problem is the fine particles when i do water changes and filter cleaning, done plenty filter cleaning during the time. only problem is that it is still cloudy. i think i destroyed alot of bb during that time, thinking of running a external filter with sponge and bio balls to help the filtration, i must just find the space to set up for piping

[KevinVA]

What kind of sand did you go with?

[coarb34]

red sand and some dirt mixed with 4 root tabs

[KevinVA]

Sorry, I mean what kind or where'd you get the sand/dirt?

[coarb34]

red sand from a garden supply depot and dirt from my one garden bed root tabs from an aquarium store

[coarb34]

tank parameters no3 10 mg/litre no2 0 mg/litre gh <3 kh 3 ph between 6.8 and 7.2 after a 20 hours doing a water change a 240 litre/ 64 gallon tank

[jaysee]

Pool filter sand has no nutritional content whatsoever for plants but it also does not require any washing to get rid of dust.

All three brands of PFS that I have used required washing....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOzIJUfghfQ