SAND!

[astrocella]

sorry if this has been discussed before.. but i'm thinking about heading out tonight to get some sand.

live sand is for salt tanks right?

what kind of sand do i need then? it's just a goldfish tank.. 55 gallon. i've got some live plants that i'd like to keep as well.

i just think it looks better than gravel what are my options??

[fishfreek]

Yes live sand is for saltwater.

I have a mix of sand and gravel in my 29 gal freshwater tank. The sand I got was basicly play sand for sand box's. I got mine from a lawn and garden center. It had a nice assortment of particle sizes from very small to pebble size.

[targaboy78]

Hi astrocella,

Yes, live sand is for SW tanks.

This site has a sand bed depth calculator;
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/calcs2.php?type=sanddepth
Just enter;
- How long your tank is in inches
- How deep your tank is we are talking about depth from front to back
- How deep of a sand bed do you want to have

It will calculate the amount of sand/gravel you need to purchase.
When you get to your LFS, you will find all sorts of sizes, shapes and colors of gravel (including sand). Basically, it is all up to your own personal preferences.

Gravel / decorations / plants are my second favorite part of setting up a tank (second only to purchasing livestock).

Have fun.

[fishfreek]

Just a note about the calculator.

I have not tested it for accuracy with gravel.

It was setup with an est weight of 1 cubic inch of sand. Of course if 1 cubic inch of gravel is about the same weight then it will be accurate.

[astrocella]

thanks for advice

sandbox sand huh? i'll try that... the LFS probably wants $6 a pound on their 'special sand'.. so i'll just take a look at home depot then

8)

[cricket]

That is also what I have in a couple of my tanks. It was labeled play sand in the Home Depot store. It only costs a couple dollars for a huge bag, and so far I have been satisfied with it. If you use play sand, you must rinse and rinse and rinse some more to get all the dust particles out. Otherwise, you will have cloudy water in your tank. I used a 5 gal. bucket and added small amts of sand and just kept rinsing it, swishing water through it until it ran clear. Then did the next "batch". It took me a couple hours to do sand for a 55 gal tank but my water was never cloudy so it was worth it! Also watch out if the sand is too deep you can get anerobic spots, maybe with lots of plants wouldnt be a problem. I keep my sand only 1" thick and stir it a bit when I vacumm. And I made the mistake off putting a large fish who liked to blow mouthfuls of sand out into the water column. Even with my power filter intake halfway up the tank, it was drawing in sand which made a lot of noise and wears out the impeller. So in this tank it was back to gravel again. It does look nice though, and also easy to keep clean as the waste stays on top, and the fish food that hits the bottom doesnt fall between the gravel and rot.

[Somethingfishy]

I used crushed coral sand in my tank, but that is probably the special sand you were talking about?

I paid £17/25KG and I used to bags in my 130G.

I have heard play sand is also very good.

[loganj]

I have used sand in several FW tanks. It works well as long as you don't get it too deep. It's a little hard to vacum also. If you're gonna have a tropical tank, the sand is great for bottom fish such as kulhi loaches and cory cats. The corys will dig in up to their eyes looking for food. I would definitely stir the sand once in a while though, if I didn't have any digging fish in there. Watch for bubbles coming out of it or any black spots...this is a sign of anaerobic areas and hydrogen sulfide.
Logan J