Substrate - low cost sand?

[inatthedeepend]

I'm very much a "bang per buck" person - and setting up the next tank is starting to hurt - the "little things" are adding up! Having decided on sand over some form of growth substrate, I went looking for sand.

OUCH - THE PRICE. For (Aquarium) sand? In the UK, it's ridiculous! I want about 20kg of the stuff - I'd pay more than half what I paid for the tank/canister filter/4 tube t8 light unit! So with a little lateral thinking...

What about play pit sand? It's graded, clean, and CHEAP - less than a quarter the price. I'm going to have to wash whatever sand I buy before putting it in the tank. Before I go ahead and buy the stuff, I figured I'd ask more experienced heads than mine - what are the drawbacks here?

[racoll]

Lots of people use play-pit sand, but some complain that it's a bit too fine, and get itself into the filter, but a simple foam prefilter should be able to deal with that. Swimming-pool-filter sand is another option people use a lot, and that stuff is slightly more coarse.

[Atmichaels]

I too tried to save some coin and opted for the play sand. I figured a few thorough Washes would do the trick. Sadly, no. Years later and I'm Still kicking myself. I'd go with the pool filter sand. Definitely worth it! The filter sand is evenly graded and won't get kicked up with every water change.

[Bas Pels]

I got my sand from a road builder - that is, mine is for filling the excavated area before the paving is applied

I never regretted this. Expenses? It was almost free - 500 liters for 20 euros

[CoryfanAad]

Cheapest overhere is poolfilter-sand. €6,50 (euro) for 25kg. And hey I am Dutch, so I know what is cheapest hahahha. To be serious : perfect stuff (middle sized grain).

[inatthedeepend]

It looks like well washed pool filter sand is the way to go then - I've found a company locally, it's a bit more expensive here - £11 for 25kg - but if they're within 5 miles I'll treat it as good exercise, otherwise they can deliver for £5. All I need to sort out now is some form of growth medium or fertiliser to use with it, as since I've got a reasonably powerful light setup (and yes I will be making sure there are shady places) I'm going to plant quite heavily while I have the chance.

[mcaquatic]

pool filter sand is the way to go. IT is cleaner, heavier and more uniform. That being said every tank I have sand in I regret. It is wreaking havoc on my aquaclears.

[TwoTankAmin]

Just a quick couple of observations re sand. I resisted using sand for close to a decade before I gave in. I quickly discovered two things when I decided to try sand to use with Altum angels. The first is all sands do not look alike in the water. But this is a matter of personal taste so one person's lovely substrate is another's nightmare. This only becomes a serious consideration in light of what I feel is the more important consideration- grain size.

And what makes this important, imo, is not that age old "sucked into the filter intake" issue but rather being able to vacuum a tank. Sand which is too fine grained will usually go up a siphon before a big piece of pleco poop.

My solution was the opposite of most, I was willing to overpay for the grain shape and size I wanted and the look. I have been using Carib Sea Torpedo Beach for a while, this is not for everybody since it runs between $14 and $19 for a 20 pound bag. While I am not advocating everybody should use this sand, I would suggest that anybody who can find a cheap substitute might want to do so. I have not been able to, but then I did not devote a ton of time trying to do so.

To get an idea what I am talking about you can head over to this link and you can see the specifications and enlarged photos of 4 distinctly different grain sizes http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=21412

Look at the Crystal River, Moonlight (marine sand), Sunset Gold and Torpedo Beach. As you will see the latter has the largest maximum grain size and the sand itself is fairly rounded rather than sharp edged.

[Barbie]

EcoComplete's new fine black plant substrate is basically tiny gravel or large sand, mainly black with a little red mixed in. It is by far my favorite substrate. It does not fit the low cost criteria though. RMC sand blasting sand is my all time most used sand, but Washington made it a real pain in the rear to get a few years ago.

Barbie

[inatthedeepend]

Sand blasting sand? That's something that I'll look into - as (unfortunately) is the ecocomplete substrate - the moths in my wallet have died from starvation though... I want a nicely planted tank, even if it's going to be destroyed over time by the leopard pleco.

[nvcichlids]

I collect my own sand or use #20 red flint sand. 50 lb bag was like $20.

[Marine590622]

A couple of things to note with regards to "sand". Sand really refers to the size of the grains, all sands are not created equal. You have several different concerns when selecting a sand.

First the material that the sand is from.

Sand created from limestone, is going to slowly dissolve and change the water chemistry of the tank
Sand from Quartz, flint and granite are for the most part inert and will not dissolve.

Shape of the grain. This is a factor affecting some but not all catfish. Sand blasting sand is made by breaking down crystaline rock. By it's very purpose a sharp edge is desired in sand blasting sand. While this may make a fine substrate for many fish, for some fish, cory cats, sand sifters and others the sharp edges to the grains can damage the fish.

Density of the Sand. The density of the sand is what determines how readily the sand can be sucked up. In my fish room, I have tanks with both white and black sand blasting sand. I have tanks with Redflint sand with is crushed graded quartz and granite and I have tanks with straight crushed graded granite. The more dense the parent material the sand is from the less likely the sand is to get sucked up into an intake.

[apistomaster]

I have often used the fine white quartz sand blasting sand and have never seen any problems with barbel damage.
IMO. coarse gravel is the worst since Corys do like to drill into the substrate. Fine sand is easy for them to snuff.
Like racoll, I also am a big fan of pre-filters on intakes for many reasons. I hate losing fry to filters. Filter damage hasn't been a problem since quartz has a relatively high specific gravity of approximately 2.65.(2.65 X equal volume of water.)
I pay about $10 for a 100 pound bag at a local hardware store. I have good results growing plants in it as long as I use substrate fertilizers.

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I like sand (either pool-filter or play), plants and a sponge pre-filter as well, it is a KISS solution and works for most fish.

If you have a lot of flow in the tank you can use a range of sizes sand and the water will naturally sort them. <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =4&t=38545> & <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 7&p=218764>.

All I need to sort out now is some form of growth medium or fertiliser to use with it, as since I've got a reasonably powerful light setup (and yes I will be making sure there are shady places) I'm going to plant quite heavily while I have the chance

You need to be careful with light intensity, but you can just feed the water column, and I'd suggest the "Duckweed Index" <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =4&t=36231> as a method of keeping your plants in growth. I think Larry (Apistomaster) uses pots for his larger structural plants, which allows him to use a more nutritious substrate.

cheers Darrel

[apistomaster]

Darrel is correct.
For large and/or expensive plants I used FloraBase substrate in pots. I have always used substrate fertilizers because I think it is more efficient. I really like the results I have achieved using FloraBase with substrate fertilizers. I think Florabsse is a Coralife product if memory serves. I actually rarely use conventional fired clay pots. Instead I use either Gladware storage containers or the bottoms of clear plastic 2 l juice bottles. Transparent or translucent containers are easy to bury and otherwise conceal when esthetics are my paramount goal in display tanks. I use the same containers when using very thin layers(>1/4 inch) in most of my breeding/growout tanks. Potting important plants allows a lot of flexibility. It is easy to relocate the plants and I can hydrovac surrounding substrates without damaging root systems. For example plants like Cryptocoryne spp or Echinodorus spp really don't like being distured.
I never really saw the point of using water fertilization since it has been my custom to make approximately 75% water changes every 3 to 5 days. I feel it is too expensive to flush so much fertilizer down the drain.
I achieved plant growth that was good enough to satisfy me. I have always been more focused on the fish rather than being an expert aquatic plant gardener. I've never used CO2 supplementation.

[Nabobmob1]

I collect my own sand or use #20 red flint sand. 50 lb bag was like $20.

Where were you getting the Red Flint sand?

[nvcichlids]

Jeff Michael's. Aka Aquaticclarity. LFS Aquatics Unlimited has it for a little more.

[Marine590622]

I collect my own sand or use #20 red flint sand. 50 lb bag was like $20.

Where were you getting the Red Flint sand?

Here in the midwest, this time of year contact your local pool filter supply store. Most of them carry Red Flint as pool filter sand.