sand from a beach

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Tryin2layadime

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
90
Location
Columbia, Tn and Tupelo, Ms
can i add sand from like panama city beach? my son went down there and brought some back in a zip lock bag and he really wants me to add it to my salt tank. can I. if not why not? its a 10 gallon zip lock bag i think.
 
I've heard arguments for and against.

On the negative side people worry about pests, weeds, and toxins. If you're set on using it they would tell you to rinse it well, and boil or cook it to kill anything.

On the positive side people talk about biodiversity, introducing different varieties of little bugs and critters to help fill out the under-used niches in your eco-system. They might gently rinse it to remove any dirt and some just add the substrate directly to their tank. You need to watch for unwanted pests and weeds and remove them as necessary.
 
Thirty years ago I use to SCUBA with a guy that kept a SW tank. When we went to San Diego to dive we would snorkel out at least 100 feet from shore with 5 Gal jugs to capture cleaner water than at the edge. Even with that he was always having problems with water quality.

Since there are no beaches in TN, I would figure that the sand was kept in baggies for more than a day? Might as well start with fresh sand!
 
No one can really say for sure since no one knows what is in the sand - including yourself. That's the big negative aspect of using sand off public beaches.

If it's been in a bag for 4 months, whatever was alive in it is most likely dead. Probably doesn't smell too good. Might have some interesting things in there from the die off. Can you tell that I'm not really thinking it's a good idea to use it? ;)
 
If you want to add it I'd rinse it really well in a bucket, flushing it a couple times, then add fresh water to the bucket, stir it well, let it settle a bit, take a large jar of water out, and pick up a good handful of sand off the bottom and examine the jar of water and the handful of sand closely, then drop the handful of sand into the jar and watch it.

If you still want to add it, I'd fill the bucket of sand with freshly made tank water, and add an airstone. Let it sit for a week and monitor the PH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and whatever else you can. Examine the water and sand again and if everything still looks good and you still want to add it I'd say go for it.

I'd put the sand back in a ziplock bag with clean tank water while making sure the temperature was close to the tanks temperature, then flip the bag upside down, lower it over where I want to spread the sand, open it up and gently disperse it.
 
sand is cheap. how much do you have invested in your tank? now is it worth that to save the amount to get sand you know is clean?
 
Do we really know how clean "Store Bought Sand" is? How many people clean their sand when they start a new tank?
 
If you want to add it I'd rinse it really well in a bucket, flushing it a couple times, then add fresh water to the bucket, stir it well, let it settle a bit, take a large jar of water out, and pick up a good handful of sand off the bottom and examine the jar of water and the handful of sand closely, then drop the handful of sand into the jar and watch it.

If you still want to add it, I'd fill the bucket of sand with freshly made tank water, and add an airstone. Let it sit for a week and monitor the PH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and whatever else you can. Examine the water and sand again and if everything still looks good and you still want to add it I'd say go for it.

I'd put the sand back in a ziplock bag with clean tank water while making sure the temperature was close to the tanks temperature, then flip the bag upside down, lower it over where I want to spread the sand, open it up and gently disperse it.

good info man thank you i think im gonna take this approach.


sand is cheap. how much do you have invested in your tank? now is it worth that to save the amount to get sand you know is clean?


its not about what the sand cost my son brought it back from his beach vacation with his mom. my son is the world to me and he loves my hobbies just like i love his hobbies. his eyes lite up when he brought home the sand.
 
Do we really know how clean "Store Bought Sand" is? How many people clean their sand when they start a new tank?
the sand i have used i took the time to really clean it. i hope they do something to it.... prob better then any top sand at the beach.
good info man thank you i think im gonna take this approach.

its not about what the sand cost my son brought it back from his beach vacation with his mom. my son is the world to me and he loves my hobbies just like i love his hobbies. his eyes lite up when he brought home the sand.
i fully understand.
 
All I was saying is that we tend to trust labels more then we trust common sense.
 
All I was saying is that we tend to trust labels more then we trust common sense.

Exactly. That sand was dredged up by a diesel backhoe or bull dozer of some unknown beach or quarry. Sent through many machines from the back of a truck.

I am assuming that the little feller brought some of the bright white sand that panama beach is famous for, and it was pre oil spill. I think the worst thing in it would be some sun tan lotion or a cigarette butt. Rinse it.

Don't tell anyone, but my entire sand bed is rumored to be from the bay here in tampa

@raimond-- that guy that gathered water from the ocean? did he black it out for a week?
 
I don't know if he did anything to the water before adding it to his tank. I met him at the beach and not at his home. When I would visit his his home on occasion the tank did not look appealing at all.
 
I would say that eveything revolves aroung two rules:
(1) Murphy's law: anything and everything will happen and It will happen at the worse possible time.
(2) Everything and everything in life can be corrected by using common sense and a little knowledge. read, read, read!!!!!
 
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Exactly. That sand was dredged up by a diesel backhoe or bull dozer of some unknown beach or quarry. Sent through many machines from the back of a truck.

I am assuming that the little feller brought some of the bright white sand that panama beach is famous for, and it was pre oil spill. I think the worst thing in it would be some sun tan lotion or a cigarette butt. Rinse it.

Don't tell anyone, but my entire sand bed is rumored to be from the bay here in tampa

@raimond-- that guy that gathered water from the ocean? did he black it out for a week?


ya he got it off the topish and yes it was pre bp oil spill. it honestly looks better then the sand i bought from the store lol.
 
According to bp there is bacteria that is eating up the oil and that the new bacteria is going to be better for the AQ people. more so if you have a saltwater setup.

(NOT)
 
Wait for the next big earthquake, you might have some beach front property then/ lol
 
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