Play bed sand not filter pool sand

Any one with play sand in their tanks the vey fine grain like beach sand not filter pool sand?and do u het any plants that will grow in play sand?or not at all?

 

I read somewhere the other day that if the sand is too fine, it will be compacted quite a bit which can cause issues with rooting.

 

i thought about going that route but a friend of mine had a valid point. think of the beach with fine sand. that sand is pretty hard when it is wet. but also gets churned up easily. as soon as you try do a gravel vac you will end up sucking most of your sand out. and as reedfish said, it will end up in your filters.

 

Play sand is a bugger to clean when vacumming

 

It's a hassle to vacuum, but ironically, absolutely needs to be vacuumed. The sand compacts easily, thereby not allowing a lot of oxygen to deeper layers. The anaerobic activity that builds up in these deeper layers can produce harmful compounds over time. This means that the sand needs to be stirred up pretty frequently.

Even in the case of less dense sands, frequent stirring/vacuuming is recommended to prevent such buildups. Alternatively, active sand diggers may do this for you - such as many cichlids, bottom-feeders, but especially, burrowing snails such as Malaysian trumpet snails.

 

@AntonP , i agree with what has been said.... without meaning to sound like im telling you what to do.. dont even try!!!

When Cesar put up one of the big tanks e decided to try because of the rays and he 'thought it would look nice'
When i watched him wash it a million times, i still told him it didnt look like a good idea..

Hahaha..
Firstly, took forever after washing over and over for the water to clear
The fish moving around lifted all these clouds of sand which also started getting into the filters and would eventually cause damage
When doing gravel vacs, most of it was going out in the water
Couple weeks later he siphoned what was left out and had to re do the whole tank.... he was not amused!!

 

I disagree with the general consensus. It depends on what fish you plan to keep and what plants you want to keep. I have play sand in my pygmy cory tank. Its only about a cm deep. Plants are anubais tied to rocks. No issues. I have had play sand with threadfin rainbowfish and stem plants. No issue. I have kept crypts in playsand. No issue. Trick is small fish and not going too deep with the sand. Also avoid fish that like to dig. And since play sand is inert you will need to add ferts to the water column for the plants.

 

I didnt give my opinion on plants... as it is not a planted tank
Yes.. possibly very small fish would be ok but even clown loaches stir it up so it has to be very small fish
The current and strength of your filters/spray bars also plays a role as that stirs it up as well

 

Hi Anton .. the question is a bit of a yes and no ... and actually you can almost make ANY type of ground work but man it might really not be worth the hassle. As an example I have made normal garden red clay work - valis loved it but do not even think of having some water movement and boy it compacts. Same goes for play sand - the opposite scale of the substrate conversation - yes it can work but really why would you want to have the hassle that has been explained? The one thing that nobody seems to have mentioned in this thread but that was discussed in the past, with the commercial stuff - make sure you do not get any that has anti-whatever in it be it fungal / bacteria etc .. a common additive is salt in the play sand. - Oh yes .. marbles - you can make that also work ;-)

Side note on plants and what they grow in / on - again this is a yeah I suppose kinda question, plants adapt, very well and you could get in your tank and environmental conditions some growth that you just can not make stick - and that is why I like the hobby and have MTS. The "rules" are not that strict, they are hmm guidelines, but go on the limb give it a spin - easier said if you have more than 1 tank and the energy to try such things.

Lekker scaping and post pictures.

Later Ferdie

 

think the advantage of pfs it is "designed" to let water through.
The grains are rounded / polished / same sized so water amd oxygen can penetrate quite deep in it. Chance of anaerobic build up is zero, oxygen will reach roots so they won't rot.
I love the stuff

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I agree, we have pool filter sand on all the tanks and its awesome
As you say, it lets water through but not much dirt gets through or stay trapped in it

 

Hi, I want to use\try pool filter sand in one of my 4 foot tanks. Currently bare bottom.

Any advice on the type \ brand to purchase and possibly were I can get white (or as close as possible) pfs?

Also practical tips on cleaning\preparing for first time use would be appreciated.

Thanks,

 

Any brand is fine
I have found that the one from the pool places is whiter than the one from builders but, just look around
As for cleaning, just rinse very well in a bucket your water is clear
I find rinsing say a quarter bucket at a time works easier