Sandbox sand?

[John28x]

Anyone ever use sandbox sand for a substrate? If so what are the pros and cons?

 

[Fresh2o]

I believe this is the same as play sand. If so, then...
Pros: inexpensive , natural color(s)
Cons: very dirty (requires a lot of rinsing prior to usage), irregular size/grade, lighter particles prone to getting sucked up by the filter when disturbed.
Once you get past the rinsing part, it's fine. If I were to use sand again, I would look for pool filter sand; uniform grain size, tends to sink when disturbed.

 

[John28x]

Ok cool thanks for the info

 

[TMaier]

Pool filter sand it way better. You have no idea what kind of minerals are in playsand. Quartz pool filter sand is much cleaner and you know what's in it. $8 for a 50lb bag usually.

 

[John28x]

That's the route we went I just hope 50lbs is enough for a 25G tank

 

[TMaier]

Omg yes.

 

[John28x]

LMAO ok sweet thanks for the help. If I can get me pics to load ever. I will post the updates

 

[dcutl002]

I did a 55 gallon tank with a 50 pound bag.

 

[John28x]

We went with about 2/3 of a bag of pool filter sand. That way we can change up the floor height

 

[Funken_A]

Anyone ever use sandbox sand for a substrate? If so what are the pros and cons?

It works but you need to rinse it extremely well and then place a small layer of gravel to keep it from stirring up to much


I put a bag into a 5 gallon bucket than ran my hose in it for an hour letting all the fine particles flow out the top before i used mine. its the micro fine particles that must be rinsed out


However there are better options like pool filter sand