what kind of sand?

[ericsc]

I want to add sand to 1/3 of my tank instead of having gravel totally covering the bottom. I just got 2 kuhli loaches and think they are cool as heck to watch but they love to burrow in sand and my gravel is too big for them to dig into and hide. I want a couple more kuhli loaches but want to have sand for them to play in. Do they sell just regular brown sand that u see at the beach that u can add to a freshwater tank?? Thanks

[gm72]

For a burrowing fish I would recommend play sand as it is very fine and therefore soft to the fish. You can also get pool filter sand but make sure it is of small grade.

[Vee]

I'm gonna tag along for this one because I want to use sand for the substrate in my new 55g.

Would hate to spend over a dollar a lb at the fish store if the sand I can get for $20/ton at the gravelpit will work.

I don't know why it won't, but thinking about how it acts when wet in the sandbox isn't what I picture in the tank.

I will follow this thread closely.

[gm72]

The sand that you can get at a gravel yard often contains some very sharp pieces, not good for the fish at all.

[ericsc]

so would play sand work ok? maybe get it at a Wal-mart or garden center at Lowes or Home Depot? would that work?

[gm72]

One of my 40-gallon long tanks has play sand in it. It will take a while to rinse it clean in my experience, but it looks great. I have 4 yoyo loaches in there and they love it! Here's a picture of that tank:

[cocoa_pleco]

i use that geosystem brand sand by hagen, wont cloud the water at all

[Algenco]

I think play sand would be a lot softer

[ericsc]

wow..awesome tank man

[gm72]

Thank you very much!

[Nautilus29]

As long as you clean the play sand good it wont cloud the water at all. It takes awhile but In my opinion I like the look of play sand better then the sand you get at the lfs for 2 dollars for a 5 pound bag.

[sailor]

Great looking tank GM. The pool filter sand I picked up was very clean. Hardly any dust at all. It is heavy enough that it doesn't stay in the water column when the fish are stirring it up so it doesn't get into my filters. I like it as it is so easy to keep clean. It is also great for my mouthbrooders as it will not harm the eggs when they pick them up to tumble them.

[BillyVille]

So is pool filter sand better than play? And i heard it was really hard to keep clean without sucking the sand up as well. And I also heard that it clogs filters up.. Is that true? What about white sand?

[sailor]

It's not that one is better than the other. I just found there was a lot less rinsing with the pool filter sand than the play sand I could find around here. I keep my intakes about 5 inches off the sand. I have only ever found sand in 1 filter and that was because my tropheus were spitting the sand almost into my intake when the alpha male was redecorating hi home. I moved the rockpile to a different location and that solved my problem. You can always put a piece of panty hose over your filter intake. Here's a link on how to clean sand with a gravel vac or python.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[gemini69]

I used pool filter silica sand. It is a very beautiful white but like white carpet it certainly shows all the debris. I washed mine a few times before putting it in the tank but I suspect I didn't need to--probably one rinse would have been enough as the water ran off clear after that. I find the sand to be heavy so it sinks to the bottom immediately even when stirred up. I do not have any problems with it going in the filter and my intake is about 2" above the sand. I'm new to this so I'm not very good at vacuuming yet but I don't find that the sand gets sucked up in the siphon tube or it falls right back down if I get a little in there.

[BillyVille]

awesome thanks!

[Tooch]

Just try to keep your vac out of the sand, right above it. With the right kind of sand, the pooh n'at should be picked up, while the sand will stay where it is.

[Vee]

I bought 150lbs (68 kilos for all you kooks out there) of play sand yesterday. Brought it home and started cleaning it......don't like it. Too dark when wet.

I'm going to look at silica blasting media and see how expensive it is and what color it turns out to be when wet....then pool filter sand. It's hard to find this stuff in BFE. I'm looking for a light color. Don't know if I would like white or not, but I know I want a light color.

I did notice the bunkers at the golf course community I'm building houses at has very white looking sand in it.......hmmmmmm

[gm72]

Pool filter sand at a pool supply store around here runs about $7 per 50 pound bag.

[Vee]

Pool filter sand at a pool supply store around here runs about $7 per 50 pound bag.

Finally found some!

We don't have any pool supply stores around here, but I found some waaaaay in the back of the warehouse at the lumber yard. $9/100lb bag. Much lighter than the play sand I got earlier. I haven't tried to clean it yet, but it already appears much lest "dusty"

Will post my findings this weekend.

[sailor]

Good luck with the cleaning, thats a lot of sand lol. Hopefully it's not too dusty.

[Vee]

5 Rinses and it's crystal clear.

I filled my tank last night and there is no cloudyness at all.

Also of note: When you swirl the sand around, it immediately falls back to the bottom, no floating or dirtying of the water whatsoever.

I vote for pool filter sand!

[gm72]

The pool filter sand I have in the 220 gallon can actually be siphon cleaned. Doesn't get sucked up.