use real beach sand?!?!?!?!?!

[jibboo]

you're right about the pool filter sand ... when I added it ... it was bright white ... I've had it in there for over a year now and the algae and aging has definitely turned off the white and made it a little more natural looking.

Personally, I liked it better when it was bright white ... but then again, I wasn't looking to make a natural looking environment.

 

[BillD]

Red Flint Filter sands has a natural pool filter sand/aquarium sand. http://www.redflint.com/index.htm is theiir website, for anyone interested in natural looking sand and gravel.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

I, too, like natural looking gravel the best. Unless you could test for pollutants and make sure it is safe, then you're taking a risk.

To Bill: Maybe your sand is fine because the waves don't wash up over the sand like they do in a beach. The sand you attained is good probably because is not as disturbed?

Maybe I'll do this for a science fair project next year in Chemistry.

 

[BillD]

The sand I gathered is from the waters edge of a beach. The wave action sorts the sand/gravel by size. The wave action also serves to create new sand from the gravel that is being moved about. The grains are composed of a variety of stone particles, such as slate, quartz and granite. The thing that needs to be kept in mind is that these are non porous stone pieces, so they don't absorb toxins or pollutants. Anything on the surface can be removed by washing and bleaching. It will not produce toxins. Since we change the water in our tanks regularly, there couldn't be a build up of anything, over time.