what kind of sand

[KatzeSlaugen]

is pool sand or play sand better for substratte or doesnt it matter?

just wondering because 100lbs of pool sand would run me 16$

granted i dont need 100 pounds but about 60 lbs (about what i want) would run me a little less for normal sand

ive read that pool sand is smoother than play sand but which would be better?
its for a cichlid tank

[MonkeyPox]

What kind of cichlids?

[KatzeSlaugen]

rusty cichlids and yellow labs

[MonkeyPox]

You may want to consider aragonite for an African tank for the pH.

[KatzeSlaugen]

is it cheap?
ph and hardness dont need to be taken into account my water is very hard and has a ph of about 7.8 and i plan on using a piece of lime stone if i do indeed need to raise the ph at all

[MonkeyPox]

20$, give or take, for 30lbs seems to be about average.
If you're not worried about pH, pfs would work just fine.

[PostalPenguin]

Just get what ever is cheapest, they both will work. And may I suggest a dark colored sand if you can find it. I had white play sand and it showed every little piece of debris. Ten minutes after a thorough cleaning it looked filthy.

[rangur1]

is it cheap?
ph and hardness dont need to be taken into account my water is very hard and has a ph of about 7.8 and i plan on using a piece of lime stone if i do indeed need to raise the ph at all

regularfish tank sand is fine. construction sand can be to rough . pool sand should be good as long as it is clean. if the sand has been used in a pool filter it may contain chemical residue, [chlorine, etc] be careful.

[thatcichlidguy]

Playsand and PFS aren't all that different. PFS is typically more even in grain size where playsand is inconsistant and normally requires a lot more cleaning but is way cheaper. I like the look of playsand because it is more natural looking IMO. Neither should change the Ph because they are silica sands and do not contain a carbonate source . Coral sands ( ie. argonite) will raise Ph and hardness as they are essencially finely crushed coral.

[MonkeyPox]

I keep hearing the way cheaper thing and I don't understand it. Everytime I check in Lowes and Home Depot, they're the same price. Even on the Lowe's website...
Am I shopping for sand at different places then other folks?

[Northernguy]

Its way cheaper than up here! I pay about 15 bucks for 50lbs of either.

[thatcichlidguy]

I keep hearing the way cheaper thing and I don't understand it. Everytime I check in Lowes and Home Depot, they're the same price. Even on the Lowe's website...
Am I shopping for sand at different places then other folks?I would imagine that we are shopping the very same stores MP. Last time I bought sand, Playsand was about half the price of PFS and you got a 50lb bag of playsand vs a 20lb bag of PFS at the Main street Lowes.

[MonkeyPox]

I forget which, but it was like 10$ for a 50lb bag each.

The last time I bought some, I went to the Leisure Depot on Dorchester and paid 9$/50lbs.

[thatcichlidguy]

Yikes that's way more than I paid . Last bag of sand I bought was $3.50. That was just a few months ago too. I'll have to check this out next time I'm at Lowes, I can't imagine why it would have gone up so much, it's sand for crying out loud.

[KatzeSlaugen]

decided not to get pool or play sand. i live right on a creek full of sandbars and i like the dark brown/ red color alot more than the whiteish colors so im going to go out sometime soon and fill a bucket.
theres muscles in the creek and they reproduce basically with a fish killing parasite so to circumvent that ill go through and pick them all out (real easy to see)
then ill rinse the sand really well to get the small pieces and mud/sticks/whatever out.
then its time to boil to kill larvae and whatever
final rise
then its tank time!

[jaysee]

I like Tahitian moon sand :18:

[MonkeyPox]

Be very careful using sand from a beach or river.

[MonkeyPox]

I like Tahitian moon sand :18:

Seachem makes 2 Flourish substrates that are black, one more like a powder and the other slightly rocky. I like both a lot, though don't have either in my personal tanks. Makes a good choice over TMS for planted aquariums.

[KatzeSlaugen]

if i had the money i probably would use some kind of store bought sand that has a darker color but creek sand works for me well enough and im sure that rinsing boiling and rinsing again will kill anything harmful that could be in there.
edit: i just went out to look at it and its not quite sand the closest thing i can compare it to is very fine gravel about half the size of pea gravel

[MonkeyPox]

Its not just harmful bacteria, etc... that you're protecting against, its limestone and other minerals that will alter your pH.

[KatzeSlaugen]

i get my water from a limestone well
water hardness is about 17 DGH and my ph is 7.8
should be about the same as the creek

[bushwhacker]

i've got quikcrete playsand in 3 of my tanks but i think i'd try the creek too as you said clean it real good and toss it in

[thatcichlidguy]

Its not just harmful bacteria, etc... that you're protecting against, its limestone and other minerals that will alter your pH.In this case I don't think it would matter much since he's using well water that has a high Ph and hardness. Any limestone that might be in the gravel the OPs using would just keep the Ph and hardness stable.

Hey MP , I was at lowes and playsand was $3.68 a bag.

[angc84]

I use Quikrete All Purpose Sand...it came out really nice! It's a darker color with a slight different in grain size. It was a pain to wash, though!

It was about $5 for a 70lbs bag at Osh.