Sand from seaside

[kingic]

hi all,

Can I use beach sand as the sand bed for my 2ft tank? is the beach sand a live sand or dead sand? need to cycle the sand before put into the tank?

[peacemaker]

It is not advisable to use sand from the beach as it may contain unknown pollutants that could be detrimental to the health of your tank inhabitants.

[Guest]

I wouldn't try that if i will you. It is too much risk to take. Just consider one pack of sand cost maybe less than 10.00 , but the livestock you bough will easily worth more than that.

[kingic]

oh ok, will take your advice. thank for your help

[cdckjn]

actually it depends on you. I mean if you really go all the way to Palau Tioman, and the sand is nice and clean, why not take a scoop of the sand and use it to seed you other sand that you buy from the LFS. of course in Singapore to find clean sand, it is almost a joke and our beaches is really very dirty. So it is up to you. I have seen several people collecting stones/rocks from our local beaches, and I know the rocks from our beaches have a lot of nasty algae and stuff that you may not want in your reef tanks. But if your is a FOWLR, then it may be ok.

[gp2700]

Seriously, don't bother.

I tried in once in my 4x2x2 previously. I got some beautiful white sand from Changi beach, cleaned & rinsed them a couple times before dumping into the tank. The color of the sand when wet is totally different from what you see when it's dry.

It's not half as nice as those packaged sand available.

[cdckjn]

Yes I agree with you, If you want the sand at our local beaches is ok to use in our aquarium. provided we wash it at least 4-5 times to get rid of the oil and dirt. But using our local sand (a bit of thise clean but unwashed) will help to seed the tank quicker.

It is your choice.

[finind]

I wouldn't try that if i will you. It is too much risk to take. Just consider one pack of sand cost maybe less than 10.00 , but the livestock you bough will easily worth more than that.

less than $10?

is aragonaite sand recommended?

[Harlequinmania]

less than $10?

is aragonaite sand recommended?

Depending on the size which you get, Aragonaite sand is more expensive but it will help to stabilize the water PH in the tank.

[finind]