Pool Sand / Kidies play sand

Hi All
Hope you guys are well

I am curently setting up 2m tank, Can i use Pool Sand or Kidies play sand,
But i want it in white,

 

go to Builders warehouse. It is R80 for 40KG. Ask for pool filter silica sand. Normal Kiddies play sand is sometimes treated with chemicals for insects ect.

 

clould also try a nursery like plantland they should have what you are looking for. river sand will look more natural with the plants

 

Just go to you local pool Shop and ask them for filter sand I have just come back from ours with a 40KG bag for R50
that is the cheapest way to go with out all the hassle just make sure you wash it off very good or you will have a murky tank for a while.

 

I would recommend some good clean beach sand. Washed thoroughly of course. That or some riversand. The beachsand is nice and fine, but settles very quickly. And its free...

 

Thanks for the response

Is the pool filter siilca WHITE, How much do think i will need to cover my base 2mx500

 

Shariff, I don't know about the others that use silica sand, but mine seems to get dirty very quickly and doesn't keep the "white" look for very long. Unless you've got a good gravel cleaner which isn't going to suck half the sand away, you might have a problem. I'm still trying to work on a solution to clean the silica sand in our tank.

I'm currently thinking of getting a darker more natural looking sand, or maybe just buy a few bags of that tiger's eye and live with the price of it For some reason, the plants seen to stand out nicer in a dark substrate tank. Maybe its just me o.0

I'm afraid you can only by the 40kg bag. They come sealed that way.

Hoping someone here can give you more hope than I can.

 

I curenlty have White gravel (from pet shop) in my 4ft easy to clean, the reason i was thinking Pool sand is that its much cheaper, but if it going to be a ploblem to keep white they might as well pay +-R300 on normal gravel, but i am looking for finer white gravel

 

Have you considered using river sand? This is off-white (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3973383&l=0be68b0022&id=635125063) and the plants seem to like it. You can get this at any nursery - I got mine at Super Plants in Bothasig.

Also consider first putting in a layer of Palm Peat fiber and Chemicult - Refer to the Prof: http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=2499&highlight=Palm+Peat. I wish I had done this before putting in my riversand.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Mike

 

river sand is the way to go and its dirt cheap lol. im using white gravel but moving house in april so im going to redo my tank with river sand and palmfibre peat soaked in chemicult it will give a natural look. plus derek at fish fantasy world recommends river sand its not to fine or to chunky. think wisely changing sand later again will be a mission

 

I use ultra fine silica sand... same texture as play pen sand and beach sand. The problem I have with it is that I've noticed my plants are not rooting as well as they use to when they were with pool filter sand.

I am considering going back to pool filter sand, but I would also seriously consider the Pam fiber Peat method as the undergravel ferts.

 

I am setting up a Malawi tank, so plant aprenty dont last and some say they do, so i might just add a few plants to see if they last

 

Hi Sharriff

Currently I have a 1.75mtr malawi tank with about 60-70kgs of pool silica sand in and it looks fantastic. My only hassle is what ever scaping you do be prepared for the little buggers to destroy it, in a matter of hours. All of my rock formations that I had made with caves everywhere - collapsed... Some areas are even down to the glass, some rocks are missing under the sand, looks quite awsome, they have completely made their own habitat to the way they want it, I have used pot plants for the plants with normal gravel in, half of that gravel is now mixed in with the sand!! I will be rescaping on the weekend, I have got a piece of driftwood that has been soaking for the past month that should be ready by the weekend to go in, I will change quite a few things to hopefully make the scaping last longer. The silica sand is great, looks nice and natural, the fish love it, but they also love to move it, where ever they feel fit!

 

Hi Peekay

Thanks sound good - do you pehaps have pictures

 

I'll take some tonight, it will only be "after" shots as I don't have any shots of the "before" the malawi's wrecked the scaping! Will post tomorrow.

 

Hi Shariff

Sorry this has taken so long! I was having problems with my browser and was not able to post any pics.... Any way it has been sorted out. Please see photo's of my tank below, these shots were taken about 5 days after a re-scape, you can see that the malawi's had a field day! I have since then made some big changes, I've put the hood on (with 4 x 54 watt 1.2mtr tubes), I've taken out all the "plastic" decorations and added a biggish piece of drift wood. I haven't got photo's of it as yet, but they have already started doing their own re-scaping with the sand!


You can see the nice mountain they made here!


Under the rock it is down to the glass!


On the bottom left that is a "plastic" cave that was standing ontop of the sand, you can see it is completely buried!


Can anyone ID this plant? Shariff, this plant has lasted pretty well with the malawi's, you will see the plant in the next pic has been completely ravaged and did not last, it is out now.


This plant did not last well and I won't get any more of it...

 

Hi there...

How much sand do you need? I'm in Central Dbn... I've got about 10 kilos extra sand... You just need to wash it... Its nice but cleaning is a problem... I use air-tubing and siphon out all the dirt like a vacuum cleaner... No other way seems to work... Reggies also has play sand... Just ensure you wash it properly and keep it in a bucket or empty tank for a day or 2 afterwards. Then add fish and plants.... Give it a try....

 

Hi there eb. adam...

If you going to be frequenting the forum, why not go over to the new members section, start a new thread, and introduce yourself to us, and give us some background to what you keep and have? A few members here get a little upset when the new people don't introduce themselves.

As far as Reggies Play sand is concerned, I always warn people about play sand that is originally intended for little feet (and mouths). Usually play-pen sand is treated with salt as a minimum precaution, and some is somtimes treated with chemicals to prevent nasties from entering our children's mouths. The chemicals would obviously be non-toxic to human consumption, but I am not convinced of it's non-toxicity to fish.

 

Agreed. I also had my concerns about play sand but i have a cousin whose been using it for years in his marine tank with no negative result. i've been using the sand with my bettas, and previous guppies, neons, platies, etc. my BPs also like the play sand. I wash it like 8 times before i put it in.

When you wash the sand, a brown foam floats to the top of the water. i continue washing till its finished. i wash 200-250g at a time in a clear jug/container. So far no problems even with my plants.

Remember, even if the packaging says its washed, wash it again