Can i use it?

[ARon9501]

So I have been reading around in other places about using beach sand as a substrate. I wanted to know if it was safe and if it is I would like to know how to make it safe for a freshwater tank.

 

[allaboutfish]

no bc there are things that shouldnt be in it and you dont want it in your tank

 

[slitherbomb]

You could, but you should clean it with tap water thoroughly and then lay it out in the sun for a day or 2. Just so you know though, I used beach sand without cleaning it to seed my tank lol.

 

[jcolon]

Honestly don't bother unless you know the beach is absolutely clean. And then you'd want to boil the sand a couple of times to get rid of any contaminants and the dust it will have.

Otherwise just get Pool Filter Sand ... it's about the same size sand. You'd still have to do a thorough rinsing. Any sand you get will cloud the tank unless you do a rinse it thoroughly.

 

[DA fisherman]

Unless you getting the sand from the Fiji's then I say no. There's also bacteria that does not grow on beach sand that grows on the sand that you get from most of these company .there's also the risk of running into the different makeup of your local beach sand.....

 

[hippy guy]

Just use stoney river premium aquarium sand. I've put it in a new, no fish tank before, striaght out of the bag, zero clouding of my water. It says on the instructions to do that, its a great sand, and I've had zero problems with it. Also won't get stirred up into the water, they are really dense, but still a small size. I love the stuff

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I agree, you'd have to boil and bake it to make sure you get all the junk in it killed (even from Fiji) IMO.

PFS (pool filter sand) is the best option IME and at $10 for 50lbs from Leslie's Pool Supply, you can't go wrong.

 

[ARon9501]

Thanks you guys for the feedback. Ima try it and I'll post pics and post the parameters of the tank before and after.