Limestone sand for Platy tank?

[Biotoper]

I have some Mickey Mouse platys that I'm moving to their own tank. And I have some white play sand that bubbled when I did the vinegar test, so it's limestone/coral/whatever, and I haven't used it for any of my FW tanks so far.

Now, I've read that platies prefer alkaline, hard water, so would the play sand be good for the platy tank?

My tap water is a bit strange in that it's very soft but pretty alkaline (ph ~8) - they add some secondary buffer to reduce lead leaching from pipes (supposedly it's sodium carbonate and CO2), the result being increased pH but little effect on GH and KH.

Also, I was also thinking of layering some peat and laterite below the sand, as I'll be planting it up. How might the peat combine with the sand to affect water quality - hard, neutral water? It may be that because of the high pH of my tap water, the sand won't dissolve much. But then the peat might change that - aah, too many variables!

Thanks, Ryan

 

[greenmaji]

ACK!!! I really hope you have some experiance with organics in planted tanks... but here it goes...
I wouldnt recomend peat for someone new to planted tanks its a advanced technique.. but you are only suppose to use a handfull per 10 gallons... like a little under a dry cup of it... and it goes in the one of the bottom layers...
Steve Hampton... uses this technique in his tanks but is and advanced hobbiest in my oppinion.. he posted how he layers the substate in one of my posts about sand.. and play sand really isnt for freshwater it packs down too well.. sand blasting sand or pool filter sand is used in FW planted tanks... here is the link to the question I asked about sand...
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=54857&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
and Im pretty sure the sand blasting sand and or the pool filter sand might not give you the buffering capasity your looking for but a small piece of limestone will do the trick and this is fine for your plattys though it isnt really that important for livebearers as it is for say rift lake cichlids... but it wont hurt to try..
I hope this helps... I think this was a hard question to answer is why it has taken so long for a responce.. I just now found your post... I hope this answers your questions..

 

[Biotoper]

Hi greenmagi,

Thanks for the advice. I have been growing plants, laterite/sand (sand blasting) in one tank and ecocomplete in another, so no experience with organics in the substrate. So I guess I'll stay away from them for now.

Being interested in using more sand in my tanks, I had already read your previous thread

I've read people using limestone sand in cichlid tanks, and platies do come from hardwater streams in Central America, but as you said, it may harden the water excessively for platies. The fact that my tap water is so soft may counterbalance. The sand I have isn't suger-fine, so I wasn't too concerned about compaction. I do like the white color.

If I'm planning on ~3 wpg, no CO2, do you think I would have to do anything to enrich the sand for plants like vallisneria, eliocharis, or would fish waste/liquid fertilizers be sufficient?

Thanks, Ryan

 

[greenmaji]

Im thinking that you should stay around ~2wpg if your planing on going without CO2..
You seem to have some planted experiance.. and if you read and understood steves advise in my thread then I say go for the organic substrate..
his advise puts some fluorite/latrerite(fired clay) material in the layers and peat so to me that sounds pretty enriched! LOL.. I know you were asking about plain sand but I think that if you have been successful with the tanks you have now that you could go for the layered substrate.. You might need to fertilize the water coelom, liquid fertilizer, but you wouldnt really be able to tell until the plants start using up the fish-wastes and substrate nutrients that you would already be providing.. I would assume that since you have read some of my posts that you might be using gregwattsons poor mans ferts.. even if not its a small tank and you could do the premixed brands without alot of cost.. this is alot of info. for a getting started post that seems like a planted aquaria post...ROFL!

 

[greenmaji]

And the harder water wouldnt be too much for the platies in my oppinion.. if that matters much..LOL.. You could always test to see how bad it leaches minerals into water by letting it sit in in some water and then testing the effect on KH and PH after a few days.. but I woud guess that it isnt that bad..

 

[Biotoper]

Thanks for the additional advice on using organics.

Last night I stirred up some of the sand with tap water, and tested its pH - it's off the chart of my high pH test range (>8.8), compared to my tap 8.2. Now it was still cloudy white when I tested, so maybe it was a bad reading. I'll test it again in a few days, but I'm thinking I'll stick with inert sand.

I was reading up on pool filter sand - sharpness seems to be promoted for better filtration. Whereas I would think rounded grains would be better for fish (although probably more prone to compaction).

As I'm only a couple miles from the ocean, I'm thinking of collecting a couple buckets of sand below the low tide line, washing it real well, and see how I like it.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I was reading up on pool filter sand - sharpness seems to be promoted for better filtration. Whereas I would think rounded grains would be better for fish (although probably more prone to compaction).

Sharpness is not a good thing beacuse of bottom dwellers and fish in general. If a fish were to contract ich, they start rubbing their sides on the bottom of the tank, on the gravel/sand. If the sand is sharp, it can scratch their body. The rounder sand is better. I use pool filter sand and love it. It's rounded and the fish love it. I have never heard of the sharper sand providing better filtration. The sand doesn't filter anything. Unless you are maybe talking about filtering in the pool.

 

[Biotoper]

I wasn't clear - I was reading product descriptions. The pool filter sand is sold for filtering pools, not for aquarium use, so for that use sharper is better I guess.

So, there is rounded pool sand available - cool. I will go to the pool store and check out what they got - by the reasoning above, the rounder sand should be cheaper.

The sand I use now I got at an LFS. I think it's just sand blasting sand, but the sand blasting sand I saw at Home Depot looked really dusty and dirty.

 

[greenmaji]

you should be flushing your sand in a bucket with a garden hose.. it should get the dust and dirt out of it.. and I think the "sharp" discription is just pool filter sand and sand blasting sand in general.. Looking for rounded sand you'll likely get lost..LOL

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The pool filter sand I have looks rounded. In general I think they all are. Not perfect circles, but they don't have the sharp edges. The sand from the lfs is lighter in weight and tends to clump more. I'm not a big fan of it. I used Estes sand in the 55 gal tank before we sold it and that was a PAIN to do. I'm also on the hunt right now for pool filter sand. The pool supply store in Marion sells it by the 50 lb bag only. The problem, I need about 70 lbs of sand. I already have a deep enough sand bed the way it is in all of my tanks so I can't really use it anywhere else. PLUS, they are selling them for $15 per bag. I've heard other AAers say they bought it for $5 for 50 lbs.

 

[greenmaji]

Have you looked into sand blasting grit/sand? They make it in black!!!