beach sand

[clowninround]

I am having a horrible time tring to find tropical play sand in central florida....can I use beach sand? I live in florida...an hour from the beach...it would be so easy for me. Can it be used safely???

[Leahdanilalton]

The sand would only be safe if you were a few miles off shore because of the pollutants and chemicals from people visiting the beach. I wouldn't reccomend using the beach sand whatsoever. Plus play sand has been sterilized and beach sand obviously has not.

[scuba_steve]

go out as deap as ya can and you will be fine !! all my sand is from florida and taken about neck deep !! you will be happier with the sand due to all the life ya will get out of it !! southdown sand is dead so wouldneed to be seeded !! also the sand from the ocean will settle in minutes

[wahoo_drew]

My nano was set up completly from the sebastion inlet and its going along great I even got the water from there(well the beach) The only thing is that it isnt very white sand even from the beach but if its the only sand in the tank you wont really notice. What size tank is it? If its larger then a 20 Id buy normal HD sand. Its alot of sand to collect. for my 10 I got about 3/4 of a 5gal bucket and it only gave me about 2.5 inches, just something to consider. For my 55 I bought 2 bags of HD sand and it gave me about 3.5 inches and its really alot whiter.

[clowninround]

yeah...I have a 150, but it already has some live sand....but just enough to cover the bottom...I need more. I was thinking that if I can use beach sand (from the ocean like Keith said) that I can do a little bit at a time (we go to the beach every 2-3 weeks) So your Nano is doing great? Tell me more about the nano

[clowninround]

Scuba Steve:

That is music to my ears!

Just set up my nano. Have a good 5" sand bed from Central Florida beach, its very dark but great sand. I got mine right where the waves break, it really dosen't matter just as long as its wet IMO. I also have a 8" sand bed in my 55 fuge thats in my 125 gal. Which is a mix of local inlet mud, and sand. No problems, and my fuge is exploding with life.

[scuba_steve]

the best way i thing to get alot of sand is to get some plain garbage bags and fill them so ya can carry them cause it can get heavy fast even in 5 gallon buckets !! better imo to have small bags and less mess as well

[wahoo_drew]

wow a 150 thats gonna take a hole lotta sand to get even 4in since you already have sand in it youll definitely notice. From the inlet its like more grey and from the beach its almost more brown, but you definitely wont have a problem with the sand it will settle fast you know its really alive I have tons of worm trails in my 10. If you go to the inlet to get sand the sand is kind of in layers I only got the top ~2 inches below that its black but now that i think of it, its either dead or the better sand do what you think to do.

well my nano is doing great always has perfect water ive only done 2 water changes since Ive set it up almost 6 months ago my xenia and polyops are doing great

[beachbumin]

Ive been thinking about doing the whole local caught tank and I live in coastal nc. The only problem Ive had is that I used filtered NSW and my tank went foggy the day after I did a five gallon water change Whether or not it was directly attributed to the water is still unknown but I havent messed with it since

I used water from 8 miles off shore. Anyways it was in a new tank, and a few days later a white smelly scum appeared. Turned out it was all the dead plankton.