Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Tanks and Equipment => Topic started by: justin on July 10, 2015, 11:19:43 AM
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Hi all.
Just setting up a new 120 litre tank and having always used gravel this time fancied setting one up with sand. My PH is just under 8 so I don't really want to be putting coral sand in, if anything I need to put sand in that's going to slightly lower my ph. Im also not particularly fussed about colours just not horrible bright pink or red!!
So, can anyone recommend what type of sand to use seeing as theres so many types. The only sands I know of are things like soft, sharp and kiln dried but there all for building and probably cant use those anyway!!
Thanks for any tips
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This is the sand I used, after seeing it highly recommended on other fishkeeping forums.
https://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3650574.htm (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3650574.htm)
It's cheap, it's clean (it didn't need rinsing, it didn't cloud the water), it's soft - not sharp and it looks great.
FWIW the sand in my aquarium is pale tan coloured (not unlike the colour on the background of this site albeit somewhat paler), not red in colour like the photo on the Argos website shows.
I don't have sand alone but instead I have a few grades of gravel and a sandy area with small stones atop.
The sand looks really natural and blends in nicely with the gravel.
You do need to be careful when using sand because of the potential for a build up of nitrogenous gas.
This is one of the reasons I didn't want sand alone and mixed it with gravel, and is the main reason I bought a small population of Malaysian trumpet snails. They really do a great job of keeping the sand layer from becoming impacted.
Alternatively you need to agitate your sand every couple of weeks or so in order to prevent the gas build up.
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What type of fish were you thinking of having in the tank? That might determine what type and colour of sand you opt for. (The Fish Profiles section on this website is a good place to look at what might and might not be suitable for your PH and water hardness.)
I have Unipac's Tana sand which was sold as a good, neutral, 'all-rounder' but you and your fish may prefer black sand. I've used sand specifically for an aquarium but I know others have used other types of sand at a cheaper cost, and which will need thorough rinsing.
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For cheap sand, play sand (inert and safe as it is designed for children to eat :D ) or pool filter sand. More expensive are the sands designed for aquarium use.
I have Unipac silica sand in my betta's tank, this is quite large grained and orangey. And expensive but I only needed a small bag for this tank. In my others I have BD Trading sand (http://aquariumsand.co.uk/) which is pale sandy coloured with dark, slightly larger bits in. It's not as expensive as Unipac but not very common in shops either. I found it in a local shop and decided to give it a try. Both of my sands were tested with vinegar before use and they didn't fizz. My pH and hardness have remained the same as when I had gravel.
Be careful with sand used for the building or gardening trades. They can be sharp, therefore unsuitable for cories, loaches etc, or they can have chemicals added. And coloured sand is sometimes dyed - and I include black sand in this not just day-glo orange. Check before buying.
Whichever sand you choose it will need to be washed, some more than others. Put some in a bucket, run water into it, swirling the sand round, pour off the dusty water and repeat till the rinse water is clean. Then do another batch.
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I bought Tesco playsand. Didn't need much washing either. Looks good in my 60cm tank with a few stones added.
Dainty corys love it and I ony have it 1/2 - 3/4 deep to stop buildup of gases.
In my shrimp tank I swapped this sand for Pets at home fine black gavel. That too didn't require much washing and the red shrimp look good against it
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OK, thanks for reply all. Looks like its play sand then....fish can make castles and stuff with it if they get bored ;D
Good to know about the gas build up...might well put some fine gravel in as well.
I love my Cory`s so will have a few of them in there, as well as some dwarf rainbow, maybe a pair or a single Bristlenose and various shoaling fish. Corys are half the reason I wanted to go for sand plus it looks cleaner sums it up better than me.
Thanks guys
Oh P.S. Extreme one did you mean that you mixed the sand in with the gravel or kinda did one or two areas of sand and another with gravel ?
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Oh P.S. Extreme one did you mean that you mixed the sand in with the gravel or kinda did one or two areas of sand and another with gravel ?
I put the gravel in, and at the front, I hollowed out an area and put a few KG of the sand in so it was almost like creating a sandpit for my corys. :)
I then blended the edge of the sand where it meets the gravel so that it looked natural and then I scattered a few small stones over the sand.
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It's a mistake to think that sharp sand has sharp edged pieces in. Sharp refers to it's drainage properties, it drains very quickly which horticulturalists refer to as "sharp" drainage. There's no reason not to use garden sand whether sharp or "silver" (which isn't silver) both can be bought in lime-free form which can be important for gardeners as well as fish keepers. I've used J Arthur Bowers lime-free sharp or silver sand in all of my tanks without problems, but I've found that plants grow better in sharp sand which has a mix of particle sizes and therefore probably allows better water circulation which is good for plant roots.