Substrate, SAND!

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Doza

New Member
beach by us i find some really nice rock... kinda nano stuff... looks nice as accent pieces.. i can probably swoop some up for ppl if their is interest.. usually the nice looking ones arent big tho.. Ill take a pic of the stuff if i can find it..


Edit.. Here are the pics of the rocks.. These are in a 10 gallon to reference size
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Doza

New Member
its some other type of rock.. ive split one over on a rock on the beach and the whole inside was the whitish rock... All i have figured so far is the white rock is harder than the grey and the action of the ocean rubs and wears the grey rock away exposing little spots of the white rock in the center of the rock.. The white spots are raised as well... I like the ones i find with a bunch of tiny white dots.. you can find them with big dots as well.. like the one on the back right and the one on the back left..
 
aaronfeeney

aaronfeeney

Active Member
my daughter found one like that near fort worden, up by you. the white is probably quartz, pretty hard and the grey is likely some sort of sand stone or something softer. ours was brown with white spots.cool stuff..
 
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Doza

New Member
yea its nice in a planted tank.. and its just like a regular river rock.. the grey rock is.. i can dind it all over here.. wish i could find something bigger like softball size.. that would be cool...
 
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bakersk8er163

New Member
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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the best ammount is 1 to .5 lbs per gallon. and the absolute BEST sand to use is Silica Sand. It's the whitest sand and the easiest to maintain water parameters for Africans.

...i kept reading lol I guess you know now. There is also another sand that is *language* to use, it's called Coal Slag, and it's jet black, and about $12/100lbs. it takes a bit more rinsing before using in a tank but the shoot is the bomb and makes some colors pop like fluorescent tubes. which I would reccomend buying if you have none the marine glo and power glo is a supreme mix.
 
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bakersk8er163

New Member
Doza said:
beach by us i find some really nice rock... Edit.. Here are the pics of the rocks.. These are in a 10 gallon to reference size
pictur16.jpg
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these rocks are super cool and would seriously be an pro eye catching tank if you had black sand.
 
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stierwalt3

New Member
Does anyone have a pic of the Silica sand bag!? I've gone to Home Depot and Lowes and nobody knows what I'm asking for. They pointed out one bag that they thought might be it,but they werent sure and neither was I.
 
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icer711

New Member
its a brown bag with green writing ill try and get you a pict hang on... lowes i have never seen it at and not all the HD have it either silverdale gigharbor and i think i have seen it at tacoma HD... 2 bad you just posted i could of brought u up a bag i was just up that way last SAT
 
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icer711

New Member
Lane Mountian thats what i forgot its from right here in the state.... very local lol
the tag on the shelf read silica but i dont believe its on the bag
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Fern

New Member
I use crystal sands pool filter sand, 50lbs for $5 and its fairly clean. Its got larger grains than most sand so your filter doesn't kick it all over the place and you can almost vac it like gravel. Its a nice off white, some people have found it in tan though.
 
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stierwalt3

New Member
Man you guys are quick! LOL

Lowes did have a some medium grain sand that they thought would be it,it looked real good and the package said it was cleaned and screened. I just might have to try it.
 
Paintguy

Paintguy

Active Member
the white stuff I saw spilled out of a bag next to the play sand looked pretty fine... maybe hard to siphon clean in the tank. I learned the hard way to really over clean the play sand. Took me a half hour running water through my tank till it cleared up. This was after boiling it.
 
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dandelion

New Member
stierwalt3 said:
Man you guys are quick! LOL

Lowes did have a some medium grain sand that they thought would be it,it looked real good and the package said it was cleaned and screened. I just might have to try it.
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i just purchased that sand for my 55 gallon. needed very little rinsing, just dusty for the most part.
 
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stierwalt3

New Member
Right on,yeah the sand that was spilling out of the bag was pretty coarse. Not your average play sand...I'm thinking it should work. I'll let you guys know!
 
Betty

Betty

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Fern said:
I use crystal sands pool filter sand, 50lbs for $5 and its fairly clean. Its got larger grains than most sand so your filter doesn't kick it all over the place and you can almost vac it like gravel. Its a nice off white, some people have found it in tan though.
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You had my hopes up -- I've only been able to find one brand of pool filter sand in western Washington and it's always the same color -- and then I saw your location. :shock:
 
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