Density of sand

Hi everyone.
Please can you guys tell me this. If I use playsand to cover the bottom of my tank - because it is so fine, will it stop debris in the form of food, poop and mulm from entering the sand. Will all the gunk just lie on the top and make it easy to vacumn out. If I use something like pool filter sand, because it is less dense with larger particles, the gunk will work it's way down into the sand, I presume - and make it more difficult to vacumn out.
I saw some very beautiful substrate sand in a tank this morning at an LFS - ADA Colorodo Sand - I LOVED the look of it , BUT, for the size of my tank I would need about 15 bags of it to give me a 3cm layer and that would set me back something in the region of like R 5 200.00 - kinda expensive just to achieve 'a look' is it not?
For a similar look I think playsand might just be the answer - however - I do not want to make MORE work for myself when it come to the cleaning every week.
The ADA Colorado Sand particles are 3mm. What size is playsand particles - does anyone know? - or what else can I use that is in the 3mm range that will not cost me an arm and a leg!! and will achieve the look I am wanting.
Thanks guys

 

I have used pool filter sand. I find that it is easy to clean. Play sand because, it is so fine, may compact over r
Time and develop gas pockets wich are really bad for fish.

 

I bought a bag of PFS last week from builders, it's 0.5mm-1.5mm according to the bag.

Sent from my SGPT13 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

@dash

could you please elaborate about the gas pockets. what are they, and what effect does it have on the tank and its occupants?
thnx

 

The gas that builds up is a nitrogen gas. And, when it is released all at once, it can drastically change your water chemistry and affect your fish.

Depending on how thick your sand layer is, this will build up over time. This is corrected by poking at the sand once a week when doing water changes. Others have said that if you add snails or clown loaches they will do this for you.

 

@dash

thank you, i didn't know this. iv have very fine umgeni river sand that has been cleaned and boiled. i have noticed small pockets in the sand. perhaps this is adding to the problem in my 30L.
as for a clown loach, my tank may be too small to accommodate these guys as they do grow quite large so ill have to poke the sand during water changes.
anyway
thanx

 

You could get Kuhli Loaches, they burrow into the sand.

 

I use river sand, and I works grate.
The poop and other stuff don't go into the sand it gets pushed around by my filters until I suck it out or it is sucked by my filters.
My sand is 3-5cm thick(its not even)
I combat the formation of gas in the sand by having live plants with a big root system like swords and other plants like vallis, and I don't have a gas problem.

 

I think another problem with the gas pockets is the formation of hydrogen sulphide which is toxic - that rotten egg smell. What you can do to prevent this is add plants with deep root systems that will prevent the deeper layers of the sand from becoming anaerobic

 

or rather - yeah what nicolaas said hehehe

 

So basically, you are all saying go with the pool sand because it's easier to clean???

 

The grains of poolfiltersand are about of the same size and more important : rounded. That's why it's uses for poolfilters (water always gets through). When in your tank there always is space between the grains : oxyginated water can get in between ; no gaspockets aso !!! Perfect stuff !!

 

OR .....................do I spend R 5 000.00 odd rand on the ADA Colorado sand - which is VERY beautiful and does not cause any kind of problems !!!!!

 

Get what the heart wants

 

The heart WANTS - but the pocket says............OUCH !!!

 

Had different kinds of substrate. Pool filtersand Is the cheapest and i am crazy about is. Changed normal tanksand : had some dark spots. As in McDonalds-advertisements : I'm lovin' it.

 

Personally i'm using play sand,it's about 6cm deep atm.

Tank isn't set up yet so will see how it goes.

 

The difference is, you will put PS or PFS into the tank, and then forever wonder what if you had just spent the extra money.
Spend the extra money now (if you have the money) and just go full tilt.

 

Good luck either way. Keep us posted.

 

@Zoom - you are 100% correct - I know myself - I will always be sorry that I did not get exactly what I REALLY wanted. Thanks mate you have helped me make up my mind.