Play sand?

[TheOwlcat]

I would like to use sand for my 55 gallon aquarium. It will house white clouds, danios, african dwarf frogs, female betta, cherry barbs, kuhli loaches and similar small species, so i dont want to use anything that will significantly alter the ph.
Is regular play sand safe to use? also if i put ceramic filter media in the filters will that take care of the biological stuff that the sand doesnt? I heard you need to have really good filters with sand. Can I mix gravel with sand? thanks!

 

[Ian086]

Hi, you can indeed use play sand is ok to use but if you can get some blasting sand or pool filter sand, I would go with one of those first. I use play sand as I can't get any of the others. Filter wise, you don't need any extra bio-media just what you would normally use. Washing the sand really really well is very important as it reduces clouding in the tank water. Mixing gravel with sand, there's no rule against it but imo it doesn't look good and will be a nightmare when you gravel vac. I would go with one or the other....

 

[TheOwlcat]

ok thanks!