I used Play Sand from a local hardware store. It varied in size from dust
to grains about 2.5mm in diameter. I washed it very well and then washed it
again and then one more time for good measure. 2 years now and not the
first sign of compacting. My deep rooted plants are doing fine and I can
easily push my finger (and fertilizer spikes) into the sand easily. I feel
that it is the perfect "cheap" substrate.

DJay


"Dinky" wrote in message
news:xBUAb.332769$275.1106661@attbi_s53...

"François Arsenault" wrote in message
.. .
Hello everyone,

Is regular sand, say of the typical sandbox type, an appropriate
substrate
for a planted aquarium? At first I thought it would do just fine (which
it
may be, for all I know). It's cheap, and I figured it might make it
easier
to plant the plants than regular gravel.



In short, yes. Usually called Play Sand, it will work well, however, it
requires some attention.

1: Rinse it well, or you'll have a dust. cloudy tank for days, and again
everytime a bottom feeder scoots in a hurry.
2: It packs too tight, as you surmised. Use it as a top layer only, do
some
research in order to decide what you want beneath it.

As far as vacuuming, I've found that as tight as it packs, just waving the
vacuum above the sand works fine, as the gord doesn't pass through the
sand
layer.