can I use sand as substrate??

[kswong34]

Hi,

Can I use those straddie (stradbroke island) white sand as a substrate for my aquarium??

The aquarium will be a home to Discus, corydoras, plecos and some catfish.

And thinking to add plant in the near future too.

Or should I add some 1mm coff harbour gravel and some black gravel to a mixture as I have those sitting around as well.

Many thanks for any suggestion.

Cheers :wink:

[Merrilyn]

Sand is great as a substrate, but you have to be careful what type of sand you use.

Some of those lovely white sands are very fine, and pack down too hard to allow the plants to get their roots through. Also some of them are really crushed shells and coral, so they will make your water very hard indeed. I think you need to do a little experiment first.

Put about 3 inches of Straddy sand into a bucket, and fill with water from the tap. After 12 hours, do a pH and hardness test and keep a record of the readings. Allow the bucket to stand untouched for a week. At the end of the week test the water again. If there's a big difference in the readings, then you know you can't use it. The dissolving calcium will make your water hard.

Swirl the sand with your hand. Do the grains fall quickly to the bottom, or are they very fine, and stay in suspension for a long time. Fine sand will be a problem in your tank.

You might like to go to a pool shop, and ask for some 'pool filter sand'. It's silica sand, and totally inert, so won't affect your pH or hardness, and the grains are a reasonable size, so it doesn't pack down too hard.

[kswong34]

Hi ladyred,

those straddie sand are very fine and it do pack down after a while. I previouly used them on my other tanks but cleared them out as selling the set up.

So will the pool filter sand good for those fish I listed??

[Merrilyn]

Yes it will. It's an ideal substrate. I use it in most of my tanks.

[kswong34]

Hi Merrilyn.

Thanks :wink:

Last question, is all pool filter sand the same??

[Merrilyn]

Hmmm good question. Yes I think it is, but just ask "Is that silica sand"

I think the most common one is Blue Circle brand.

[kswong34]

:( sorry.

So do I need silica sand??

what colour are the sand??

[Merrilyn]

Just sort of a pale yellow/white colour. Yeah, the silica sand is used in swimming pool filters because it doesn't change the pH of the water. If you ask for the stuff that goes into a pool filter, it will be right.

[kswong34]

many thanks :wink:

[kswong34]

Hi Merrilyn,

Is me again :oops:

Is this the one u mentioned. I found this sand very fine too. It stated in the grade as 250.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b369/CoryFan/sand.jpg

[jho51e]

that looks like the one I have on my tank... the grains are not as fine as beach sand so it sits quite nicely at the bottom... i also have blue circle which i got from Clark Rubber...
http://static.flickr.com/53/133240374_5a386f3caf.jpg

here is the grain size compared to a BN:
http://static.flickr.com/45/140293417_2f4a731fc7.jpg