River sand and clay

Hi all..

Since my last thread about my the certain type of sand i wasnt supposed to take nearly landed me with a lot of trouble , i first want to make sure before i mke the same mistake again.
I have a friend with a farm near a river , i just want to know if it is legal to take sand and clay from that river..
If i can , how do i wash it , and with how much sand should I cap the clay?
Is this clay suitable for a planted tank?
How thick should the layer of clay be in my tank?

Tanx

 

Ok, as far as I know, it wouldn't be "kosher" to be taking the clay from the wild... but let's no go bossies and close threads and cause trouble.. because the reality is you can still get clay from other (legal) sources. Let's just assume you are not going to collect the clay illegally.

I'm not sure if there are many people here who use clay in their tanks. Maybe @Rudi can share some information??

It's interesting to read the different responses to clay. 2 books that I am currently reading with regards to planted tank actually DISCOURAGE using clay. Their reasoning is that because the clay doesn't allow free movement of water (and thus nutrients) the roots, and ultimately the plant is starved of essential nutrients. Other people say that plants can absorb all their necessary requirements through their leave. I've heard of people using clay that is mineralized with the essential elements, but not sure what happens when this is exhausted!

Anway... godod topic.

 

My reasoning behind the clay is that river plants naturally grow in it , so it must have some nutrients in , but thats my opinion , and have done absolutely no research on the topic.
I started this thread to make sure weather it would be illegal , but if it is , i wont clollect the clay.. But can i collect the sand? Want the tank to look as natural as possible.
If clay is not suitable , then what can you recommend for a cheap alternative to the PFP , i currantly have pfp , but moving plants turns out to be a BIG problem.
Tanx for the advise @Zoom , i really apreciate it =)

 

Hi Skaapietjie

I recently setup three more 250lt malawi tanks. Instead of going out and buying gravel I went to the local post office and got a permit to collect shells and collected shale. These are rules and regulations here in the Western Cape along our coastline and I'm almost sure the same legislation would apply to moving water bodies (rivers). I would find out from your local conservation. Its not like you going to be moving tons of river sand.

 

I wouldn't. Some river plants can grow in clay, but you'll find the majority of the plants we have available in the trade come from areas with sandy, gravelly or organic substrata. Clay is very compact, and like Zoom said, doesn't allow for much water movement through it. The plants we use will pretty much get choked by the clay.

 

Okay, here we go. I just spoke to my enviromental consultant friend and he said that you do not require a permit to collest gravel/sand/clay as long as it does not exceed more than five cubic metres. He said the biggest trouble you can get into is treaspassing, but its a friend of yours so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

I can imagine the clay would foul the water for the first few days, and it would just be hectic to keep clean, I would however suggest using some river sand as this seems to be the better of the idea's. What you could also possible think about is just having the clay in areas where you will be planting the plants, not neccessarily the entire bottom of the tank covered with it. Natural is always good, see if you can possibly pick up some good looking sand-stone rocks that have been carved by the millions of years worth of weathering. It's look really neat.

 

Howzit Skaapie', if you can find a place that sells earthworm castings (EC), I think it is certainly cheaper than PFP. What is working well for my planted tank is a layer of EC at the bottom, capped with riversand. Nice natural look and plants are doing well without any additional dosing of fertilisers. I prune almost every two weeks. I tried doing 1 third of EC with 2 thirds river sand on top, but in some places it is almost 50/50. Only problem is when moving plants it can get messy if you're not super careful.