Desert sand for aquarium

[GLOBAL1]

I have a bag of sand for reptiles (used for bearded dragon) I was wondering if it's okay to use for my aquarium, it says nothing on the bag about any added chemical or calcium, just that it's a natural desert sand, ideal for reptiles from the desert environment.

 

[Mebbid]

It's very likely that it will be issue free. Might send an email to the company and ask if there are any additives in the sand. I doubt that there are but it's a possibility.

 

[Fresh2o]

You could always add some of the sand to DI water and see if the pH rises.

 

[GLOBAL1]

Well I got an email back saying it's just plain sand so I started it about 2 hours ago, moved all the fish and the frog, and did this

 

[Brookster123]

It looks extremely fine, not going to be a pleasant tank to maintain. Wish I had gotten here sooner. Trying to save a buck here and there usually leads to spending twice as much later and having to tear down a tank.

 

[GLOBAL1]

Why will it be hard to maintain? I've never used sand before, usually a gravel person, thought it would be better because waste can't get stuck in the gaps and take my ammonia up

 

[Brookster123]

If it's as fine as it looks its going to get into the filter and ruin that. Probably be a little cloudy.. It's going to pack which can cause problems with pockets and such. There's a reason glaciers, mother nature and Godzilla left dessert sand in the dessert.. and ocean sand in the oceans.

 

[GLOBAL1]

It is fine, suppose I'll have to deal with problems as they arise then, I filled it up with water and it's not cloudy that much, I washed it through a few times, wish I knew this before, I Googled it and asked a few people and they said it should be fine lol

 

[Brookster123]

Yah... In the future (depending on the individual really, some are fine with fine but some are far from fine with anything less than better than "fine") when the internet says it's "fine".. ask them for a picture of their tank or ask them to define their standard of "fine".. It's a broad term these days... like... oh.. hey, your head has a hole in it that's bleeding.. "I'm fineeeeee"...
See what I mean??

 

[nirbhao]

How deep is it? Could you cap it and add a couple Malaysian trumpet snails?

 

[GLOBAL1]

Well last night before bed I filled it with water and left it to settle in, when I got up I looked for info online and someone posted in a forum about poking the sand to get the air out, sounded like a painstaking task but I did that, got lots of little bubbles out, I read about snails somewhere before, I know they multiply like mad and last time I had snails I had to strip the tank and it's all long, so I don't want to do that, I'll have to get a loach to take them out and that's more expenses for me in the long term, tested my water and that's fine, I Have a sponge filter before the water gets to the impeller then it goes through a box filter with the activated carbon in so it should be okay, with luck on my side lol

 

[GLOBAL1]

How deep is it? Could you cap it and add a couple Malaysian trumpet snails?

The sand is about 2 inches, I poked it all through to get air out, I did sing a bit after but it's still about 1.5 inches deep

 

[TMaier]

A sand bed can use a bit of a stir. MTS will do that to keep the sand from getting funky.

 

[toolman]

+1 to Mts, if you don't overfeed they won't take over.

 

[GLOBAL1]

Would a crab like a red claw fiddler do the same job as a mts?,

 

[andy.keeper]

Don't think so, mts would get in the sand and mix it up, going through it like a worm would through soil, a crab will just walk on top and pick food up I think, no expert though

 

[ArcudiElizabeth]

I have a fiddler, they shift through the sand for food. But they require brackish water with access to land.

 

[nirbhao]

It doesn't address the brackish part, but there are little cove things you can buy (or make) to provide dry space under water.