Play Sand, the right stuff?

[roger]

Im working my way towards a planted discus community tank.

So far I have some blue rams, some pencil fish, some apistograms and a few cory cats.

I expect to not be using an undergravel filter and so I was going to go with a little sand in the tank but I can never remember which is the correct sand and how to tell if what you got is correct.

Someone once mentioned dripping a little acid on it to see if it fizzes/foams which would be the wrong sand.

Long story to short, is standard play sand from Home Depot the right stuff.

Peace,
Roger

[mustysushi]

I haven't tried the Play sand but I have used aquarium sand before. I won't use it again. No matter how clean you keep the tank, the sand just absorbs everything. Terrible smell!!!! Just my opinion.

[Ralph]

Most sands are quartz based which is inert. Home depot and every play sand I've seen are quartz. The test you are talking about consists of putting some vinegar on the sand to see if it bubbles. If it does, pass on it because it likely has calcium and will harden your tank water.
Mustysushi is right about the cleaning. The trick is vacuuming the mulm without vacuuming up the sand. Use a heavy sand and vacuum lightly across the top (Dale told me that one). Or use a thin layer of sand, an option for nonplanted tanks only.
The height of the siphon outflow should be just a little below the level of the intake. You get less suction that way.
I've got rams and pencils in a tank, they make good tank mates.

[roger]

Thanks Ralph

Ill only be putting a little down, I have some spare plexiglass that I might be making small trays out of. Im thinking about putting the sand in those and leaving the rest bb ..

Ill see once I start putting things together.

[Rich_Long]

I used pool filter sand withe good results.

[c-bones]

Hello, I did a 55 in play sand,after cleaning it thoughly it takes about a week for the fine sand particals to settle, plants do very nicely in it. I have added 8 / 3,3.5in Discus and all are doing well. One thing to watch out for is setiment in the impellor, clean it out more often then you normally do and when I'm doing water changes I add a micron canister to clean it up.
I'll try and post a pic as soon as I get batteries for the ditial ;)


Rose

[roger]

Out of curiousity Rose, How much sand did you end up using for your 55. That is more than likely going to be the tank size that I use.

Thanks,
Roger

[Discus_Hans]

Most playsands have clay in it, that's why if children makes it a little wed, it sticks together, better look for a sand with no "extra's". When you clean the bottom and "loosse" some sand you can very easy add new sand to your tank.
Take a PVC pipe in the size 4" or bigger, put the end of the pipe in the back of the tank, the other side above the water in the front, clean the sand and fill the pipe with 4-5" sand.
Let it rest for 10 minutes and pull the pie slowly out. All the sand will stay in the back there were you want it. Fill up the whole back this way and ready, easy job :) :) Hans.

[c-bones]

Hi Roger,
I bought a 50 lb bag and used about 45 lbs.
It is a very fine sand so you will loose some when cleaning the bottom of the tank. I always siphon to the glass bottom thru the sand to clean out the mulm,
Sand bottoms are pretty but bear in mind they can be alot of work to prevent fouling. ::)...

Rose

[Ralph]

Hi Rose,
I recently got some silica sand from a LFS ($1/pound which I thought was a good price until I saw how little a pound was). It is heavier so that I can just stick the vacuum all the way in the sand to the tank bottom. It tosses and turns the sand, the mulm get sucked up, and the sand returns to the bottom of the tank. I do the entire bottom of the 29 gal in one or two minutes and I think it is as clean as a barebottom (this is not an invitation for a fight). The problem though is rooted plants, which are highly disturbed by the process (I have to come up with a way to anchor them to the glass). Right now it is just sand, driftwood, and plants attached to the wood. It looks good though (and is close to what it might actually look like in the wild).

[roger]

On one of the other boards someone mentioned sand blasting sand. They said compared to the play sand they see its somewhat darker and larger than the play sand.

Something else for us to look at :)

Thanks Rose, I got a 50lb bag of the stuff so I shoudnt need to buy anymore for the initial setup.

Roger

[c-bones]

Hey Ralph,
The way I got around the rooted plant situation is I put them in tera cotta pots and leveled them just below the rim with sand, so far I'm getting good results in not up rooting them........but thats is so far ;). It also makes triming them less of a water world challenge, although Im always in the water one way or another ya know lift that bucket, tote that siphon yada yada yada...
A friend said that he siliconed his to the glass before adding sand :o, I dont thing I could though

Rose

[Discus_Hans]

Piece of peat 2 x 2" under the sand for the plant to grow on will do. Hans.

[c-bones]

Hans,
I'll give that a try, Thanks :thumbsup: I never thought of that.

Rose

[flogger426]

hi

whatever you do don't use "Southdown" brand play sand - it's aragonite based and will raise your ph in the discus tank. great for reef tanks though!

this sand is mostly available in the northeast states at home depot. make sure you use a silica-based sand for fresh water. however the only problem with silica based sand is it's ability to help with unwanted algae growth - fwiw


flogger

[Ralph]

Silicone the plants? That's one that I hadn't thought of (and maybe never would have). The drawback I guess would be the inability to add plants while the tank is set up, it definately has possibilities though.

Frogger, are you saying that there are nutrient containing clays in the silica sand, do you know if it is all of them?

[c-bones]

;) I know that silicone thing freaked me out too.

I checked with the manufaturer of the play sand I purchased from home depot, its called premium play sand #15550 from w.s.bonsal out of N. Carolina or South Carolina and it is a 100% silica sand that is fired to 1000 degress before being bagged and shipped. It does not have any clay in it, (so they say). 8)

Rose

[Ralph]

I wonder if I can hot glue the plants?

The sand sounds safe (say that three times). I saw the play sand at Home Depot yesterday, if it is the same stuff. It looked very fine though, but you can't beat the price.
One of our LFSs has Neptune's Reptile Sand (I don't get the connection between Neptune and reptiles) and the bag says that it is made specifically for aquarium use (these guys need a marketing class).
But it is epoxy coated (that would be a fun job) and guaranteed not to affect the water. It is 5 pounds for $4. and comes in white, brown, and black I think. It is the largest sand I've seen and you couldn't vacuum it out with a Hoover wet/dry.

[c-bones]

I'll check with my friend and ask him just exactly what he used silacone and how he applied it, I think a hot glue would burn the heck outta the root base.

i don't think I can say that three times fast ;D

Reptiles came from the sea, didn't they????Maybe thats the connection, its sounds like nice heavy sand though I like the Idea of not loosing it every time I clean the mulm out.
I'm just glad I only have to deal with it in one tank,and not the rest (bare bottoms)

Rose