Sand as a substrate..
 

Sand works great as an aquarium substrate
The only thing i suggest is make sure it is not 2 deep or you will get
some dead spots in there.
It does a great job of keeping the gunk out but can get sucked up
really easily with your gravel sucker.

Marc
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On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 11:06:30 -0400, "Phil Williamson"
wrote:

Hi all,

I've just come back from my LFS and the guy said somethings about sand that
made sense. He said that since it's so dense, all the crap stays on the
surface of the sand rather than making it's way into it. That was you only
have to vacuum the surface rather than poking into the sand.

What do you guys think? Do you like sand?

Phil...

Phil Williamson wrote:

Hi all,

I've just come back from my LFS and the guy said somethings about sand that
made sense. He said that since it's so dense, all the crap stays on the
surface of the sand rather than making it's way into it. That was you only
have to vacuum the surface rather than poking into the sand.

What do you guys think? Do you like sand?

Phil...

He's right about the density. Which helps with crap cleaning, but if the
sand layer is too thick, due to the density water may not flow through
it well. Then oxygen-poor spots can form, and if there's anything that
can rot in those areas it can release poison gas.
That said I liked sand the few times I've used it (it was coarse sand
and I didn't use much). You'll notice with very small aquariums sand
substrate looks better because it's more to scale with the small tank.
Coarser gravel would look a bit chunky.
Oh, is sand for sandboxes for children to play in good for aquarium use?

Seb

"Seb" wrote in message
...
Oh, is sand for sandboxes for children to play in good for aquarium use?

Seb

For the most part, yes. Wash it well. I am using it right now.
-Jen

I would think that the play-sand would be coarse and gunk would get down in
the sand.

I was under the impression that was the main benefit with sand was the fact
that gunk n stuff wouldn't get down in the sand and be hard to clean...

Brian S.

"Aquarijen" wrote in message
...

"Seb" wrote in message
...
Oh, is sand for sandboxes for children to play in good for aquarium use?

Seb

For the most part, yes. Wash it well. I am using it right now.
-Jen

"Seb" wrote in message
...

Oh, is sand for sandboxes for children to play in good for aquarium use?

Yes. It is very good as a matter of fact. The 50 pound bags of "Children's
Sandbox Sand" at Home Depot have even been sterilized. I use it in my
tanks. The only drawback is that it is really light in color... but as the
plants fill in, this becomes a non-issue. Also, it is very easy to see and
vacuum up the mulm that forms.

Tom

Guess I know where I will be getting the sand then :)

Will this type of sand compact to the point where it suffocates plant roots
though?

Brian s.

"Tom" wrote in message
news:Slidd.279201$D%.271689@attbi_s51...

"Seb" wrote in message
...

Oh, is sand for sandboxes for children to play in good for aquarium use?

Yes. It is very good as a matter of fact. The 50 pound bags of
"Children's
Sandbox Sand" at Home Depot have even been sterilized. I use it in my
tanks. The only drawback is that it is really light in color... but as
the
plants fill in, this becomes a non-issue. Also, it is very easy to see
and
vacuum up the mulm that forms.

Tom

"Brian S." wrote in message
news:kYjdd.157199$He1.30693@attbi_s01...
Guess I know where I will be getting the sand then :)

Will this type of sand compact to the point where it suffocates plant
roots
though?

Brian s.


Any sand (or other material for that matter) will compact to a point... then
stop. It is a matter of grain size and physics. It cannot, however,
'suffocate' roots. The only plants susceptible to 'suffocation' are the
ones requiring the rhizome or stem be above the substrate surface.

Tom

Phil Williamson wrote:
How deep should I make it?

[snip]
Depends on whether you have plants. If yes, it has to be deep enough to
let them root. Or you can put the plants in plastic pots and arrange the
decor to hide the pots. If you don't want to root the plants in sand,
you can make it as thin as you can.
Another thing is whether you have fish that like to dig. I must say I
don't know how frustrated diggers get when they can't indulge in their
favorite behaviour... cichlid experts out there?

Seb