Substrate, SAND!

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sandnuka

New Member
ok, soooooo I was thinking of changing substrate in my newly found tank from the usually gravel/crushed coral.. to sand! then i looked at the price! WOWZERS! especially if you want a colored sand, like black. :(

So, because we washingtonians live next to the beach, can I just drive down to the beach... like oceans shores... fill up a bucket of sand, and dump it in my tank??? does fresh sand from our beaches mess with the water chem??? cause I got my PH for my african cichlids perfect right now, and I dont want to throw anything off.. Anybody ever try it??? Who is using sand for there african cichlids???? How do you like it??? is cleaning it hard??? probably doesnt vacume like gravel does....

My brother just went to home depot and got a big bag of cheap kids play sand..... it works, and looks alright. I think our beach sand on the shores looks better... wish i had enough money to buy moonsand black though, thats my favorite!
 
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CrashSmAshley

New Member
I wouldn't do it. Sand is basically ground up rock, and if it's from the ocean then it's gonna be really salty. I would also be concerned about any parasites or illnesses living on it. Most companies make "synthetic" sand or use sand from a controlled body of water so you know it's tank safe. Look for bulk sand if you can; it's much cheaper. I'd rather pay the price for safe sand than using sand I wasn't sure about :D
 
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Gosu

New Member
"grout" sand works great but you must rinse it very very very very very very well, and i mean that, comes with tons of small particles that cloud the water like a wet dust storm but after a very good rinse its nice, natural looking, and the cichlids will run it through their gills(keepin em both clean!)
 
aaronfeeney

aaronfeeney

Active Member
sand

any clean sand in bags from lowes will work, rinse well. I got 100lbs of white for $8, then mixed in crushed coral . the fish love sucking up the sand
 
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sidekicking

New Member
dude just get the moon sand it looks way better and it worth the price...thats what i use in my tank
you wont be happy unless you get it lol
 
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Gosu

New Member
sidekicking said:
dude just get the moon sand it looks way better and it worth the price...thats what i use in my tank
you wont be happy unless you get it lol
Click to expand...
just lmao...moon sand
 
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icer711

New Member
you might find some colored pool filter sand from a pool store sometimes they carry it and its usually cheaper than the lfs price, you can get white silica from home depot 100# for $8. i my self have black, white and what they call an oatmeal sand i prefer the look of the oatmeal sand the best but the white is a close second i think the white brings out there colors better as it feels like it holds the light in the tank better for a brighter richer feel
 
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icer711

New Member
haven't had time to take good pictures of my best ones ill try and get some soon, trying to set up a 125 to condense my smaller ones, gotta make a divider yet gotta keep the big fish apart from the little fishes
 
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Mikey

New Member
hey Icer, im gonna bring the snails to you tomorrow at like 9:00am. Want the $10 tank with light too?? and if i stop by your place id love to see your tanks.... :D
 
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icer711

New Member
sounds good and yes to the tank ill pm you later with the add. from what i remember is on your way hopefully i can keep my munchkins from destroying the place lol
 
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sandnuka

New Member
Back on Topic, How much sand?!

So, how much sand do I add to a 80gal tank??! Anybody have a good formula for that? I used to believe a pound for every gallon, but its so hard to clean, I was think 1 pound per 2 gallons??? anybody have suggestions?
 
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Kingstature

New Member
Nuka, was I not just with you when you bought sand? If you dont mind natural color go to lowes and get the 100 lbs of 100% Silica sand for 8 dollars or something around that... Forget robbing our beaches the sand the WDFW will not allow it anyways and its horrible for parasites....You can get colored pool sand and sand blasting sand as well, sand blasting sand is nice cause you can get glass sand really really clean stuff hardly needs washing.... But anyhow what happened with black sand you just bought today? :king:
 
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Anonymous

Guest
I bought white and black sand from A Place for Pets in Burien. I love the look of the white and black all mixed up and the fish LOVE to mess with it..lol. It is a lot easier (and faster) to clean than gravel because fish poop and food remains don't sink into it. Everything lays on top making it very easy to vacuum up. Just make sure not to bury your vacuum nozzle in the sand..lol. Just hover over the dirt and it sucks it right up!
 
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sandnuka

New Member
lol, thats 40lbs... I wanted to see if anyone would say 40lbs for my tank without me saying thats what I had... lol, Now I spoiled that plan... I know what you thought, just finding out how many people agreed/disagreed.... I agree with us... lol. I should get one more bag... or a 20lb bag of crushed coral... but thats $$
 
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Anonymous

Guest
sandnuka said:
So, how much sand do I add to a 80gal tank??! Anybody have a good formula for that? I used to believe a pound for every gallon, but its so hard to clean, I was think 1 pound per 2 gallons??? anybody have suggestions?
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It really depends on the fish you have. Africans tend to move the sand around a LOT. They love to rearrange the tank substrate. So, unless you want them to clear out spots, do about a pound per gallon or figure on 2" minimum depth of sand. I have 80 pounds in a 55 gallon and it is pretty deep, almost 3".
 
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Anonymous

Guest
sandnuka said:
lol, thats 40lbs... I wanted to see if anyone would say 40lbs for my tank without me saying thats what I had... lol, Now I spoiled that plan... I know what you thought, just finding out how many people agreed/disagreed.... I agree with us... lol. I should get one more bag... or a 20lb bag of crushed coral... but thats $$
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40# in an 80gal is going to be real thin.
 
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