Sand

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Jewel_cichlid03

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Oct 10, 2012
Messages
292
Location
florida
Im wanting to put sand in my 55g tank ive never done sand before so im looking for some advice on how to put it in the tank like if i need to use egg crates on the bottom or if i can just put it on the glass of the bottom of the aquarium and im looking for peoples suggestions of what type of sand and what type of sand wont cloud up the tank
 
My preference is pool filter sand. I have tried play sand. Pool sand in my opinion rinses and clears better. When I tried play sand it took so many rinsings and it did not clear very well. I have pool sand in all my tanks. I do have egg crate but only in one tank. That tank had breeding jags who would move sand constantly. The crate kept decor in place and meant rocks did not sit on the glass. So it would depend, in your case, what your keeping. I also found pool sand easier to vacuum when doing water changes. I still have to pinch the hose @ times to slow the flow. It has been awhile since I purchased it. I believe it comes in 40 or 50 lb. bags for under $10.
 
Leviathan64 said:
My preference is pool filter sand. I have tried play sand. Pool sand in my opinion rinses and clears better. When I tried play sand it took so many rinsings and it did not clear very well. I have pool sand in all my tanks. I do have egg crate but only in one tank. That tank had breeding jags who would move sand constantly. The crate kept decor in place and meant rocks did not sit on the glass. So it would depend, in your case, what your keeping. I also found pool sand easier to vacuum when doing water changes. I still have to pinch the hose @ times to slow the flow. It has been awhile since I purchased it. I believe it comes in 40 or 50 lb. bags for under $10.

What store did u get your sand from
 
Leviathan64 said:
My preference is pool filter sand. I have tried play sand. Pool sand in my opinion rinses and clears better. When I tried play sand it took so many rinsings and it did not clear very well. I have pool sand in all my tanks. I do have egg crate but only in one tank. That tank had breeding jags who would move sand constantly. The crate kept decor in place and meant rocks did not sit on the glass. So it would depend, in your case, what your keeping. I also found pool sand easier to vacuum when doing water changes. I still have to pinch the hose @ times to slow the flow. It has been awhile since I purchased it. I believe it comes in 40 or 50 lb. bags for under $10.

what store did u get your sand from and whats the process of how u would rinse your sand
 
Home depot has it too if you have those.
I got 50lb for 5$!
I also find pool filter sand clouds the water less and vacuums easier bc the particles are thicker.

But I also really love the fine white sand I got from petsmart...
And I also love the black sand in my shrimp tank.
You should look up tank pictures to see Which color you like best.
The petsmart sand is more expensive though.
 
If you like the black u can use blasting sand 50lb bag 7.50. Just rinse real good i rinsed mine by putting sum in a bucket and swish water around in it drain water than add more water abd just keep repeating until water runs clear.
 
My rinsing method was basically the same.
I put my sand in a bucket about halfway up and took a garden hose and pushed it all the way to the bottom in the center. Then let all the lighter particles spill over the edge as the bucket fills.

And What do you mean? Where can you get it cheaper?
 
Jewel_cichlid03 said:
which clouds the water more black or white ?

I think it really depends on the type you get, and how fine it is.
Pfs shouldn't cloud the water of you rinse it well.
The white petsmart sand was finer so it clouded it a little more.
And the black petsmart sand (1$ a pound) didn't cloud the water at all, even with minimal rinsing, but air bubbles would get trapped in it leaving a bunch of sand clusters floating around at the surface, but they went away after a little while.

Even if it does cloud the water a little it should go away if you let it settle for a few hours
 
i really like black sand and petsmart is pretty expensive do u know any where i can get black sand for less
 
I found the best way to rinse sand (I use play sand cause its easy to find and I like the look of it) that I've found is to put it in a pillow case, put a hose in the top, and put it into a 5 gallon bucket. Once the bucket fills up, pour out the water and repeat, lifting the pillow case out of the water and setting it Dow several times. I then put the pillow case in a sunny spot to dry for several hours, and then put it in a tank, or other container to store
 
Jewel_cichlid03 said:
i really like black sand and petsmart is pretty expensive do u know any where i can get black sand for less

Someone had already mentioned this but I say it again blasting sand for sand blasting is black and works really well I guess aquariums its course and not hard to clean, can be found at ur local hardware store.
 
Just go to any local hardware store Home Depot, Lowes, family owned stores possible. It's fairly common. Possible to order online even.
 
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