# can I use just play sand?



## TigerLilly (Oct 11, 2004)

well, can I?


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

Depends on the sand. Here in the Pacific NW most of the so called Play Sand is a fine gray powder. If the sand is 1-2 mm in size it will work fine. I would still place a thin layer of peat moss under it and a box of laterite.


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## TigerLilly (Oct 11, 2004)

I think I can get the peat moss at homedepot. Where can I get the laterite?


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## elgecko (Apr 18, 2004)

Some of the pet stores sell laterite.
I would go to a swimming pool dealer and buy filter sand instead of play sand. It is pure silica sand.


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## sarahbobarah (May 20, 2005)

I used just play sand in one tank, and boy was that a mistake. When I cleaned or moved things around, that tank smelled to high heaven. And when I finally took it down, I almost puked. That was my experience anyway. 
For growing plants - the only things I got to grow were nymphaeas and eleocharis vivipara. 

Maybe your play sand will be different.


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## AaronT (Apr 11, 2004)

Sand is okay, and I stress "okay", for growing stem plants. If you want to grow anything rooted go ahead and get a nicer substrate like Flourite or Eco-Complete. Sand has zero nutrients and almost zero CEC (cation exchange coefficient), which means it doesn't bond with nutrients and make the available to the plant's roots. Sand will also compact and become anaerobic and produce that funky smell and mess that Sarah was unfortunate to experience. 

I also do not recommend that you put peat under your substrate. All the peat does is speed up the bacterial colonization of the substrate a tad. While this is a good thing in a new tank, it is easy to put too much and then you're left with a big mess. It's just simply not necessary.

I have used several substrates myself including playsand, poolsand, Flourite, Florabase, Shultz Aquatic Soil, and ADA Aquasoil Amazonia w/ Powersand. I recommend Flourite to most everyone because it is readily available and grows amazing plants.


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## dan2ktj (Mar 11, 2005)

grandmasterofpool said:


> I have used several substrates myself including playsand, poolsand, Flourite, Florabase, Shultz Aquatic Soil, and ADA Aquasoil Amazonia w/ Powersand. I recommend Flourite to most everyone because it is readily available and grows amazing plants.


Do you think the ADA products were worth the money?

I've had good luck with Eco Complete but would like to try the popular look of the lighter sand in the foreground of a new 60g 2'x2'x2' cube. I like the idea of ADA powersand. ADG is the only place here in the US I've seen it for sale. Does any one else sell it or a similar 'enhanced' sand?

Thanks,
Dan


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## bavarian3 (Feb 22, 2005)

Play sand sucks, messy, dirty, too fine of grain, damages filters. Go with pool filter sand, much better.


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## bigstick120 (May 23, 2005)

when I started up my cichlid tank I started with playsand. I cleaned an 80 pound bag by pouring it into small buckets and rinsing it very well. When I added it to the tank it was cloudy. I let it settle for a few hours and it cleared some. I turned on my AQ 110 and it destroyed the filter. So NO dont use playsand. Pool filter or another silica sand is much better


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## aquabillpers (Nov 28, 2003)

To paraphrase an American President, it depends on your definition of play sand.

The real fine stuff, almost like flour, that is used in kids' sand boxes. is not good for plants. It is so fine that water does not circulate well in it, potential nutrients stay on the surface (and are unsightly), and it can develop an anaerobic mess underneath.

Better is 2mm - 3mm inert gravel. Some fish stores sell it in 25 pound bags for about $8, or perhaps you can find it at Home Depot or a similar store. Of course, it supplies no nutrients (like play sand) but that is a separate issue.

Bill


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## AaronT (Apr 11, 2004)

I have been very pleased with the ADA products so far. They are pricey though. You do know that powersand is not the decorative sand in the front right? That sand is just inert sand for decoration. Powersand goes underneath aquasoil as the base layer.


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## ScottyDont (Mar 9, 2005)

I have play sand and it messed my filter up..I want to change to black eco complete now  but I have hydro growing in it quite well


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## MissMinerva (Nov 10, 2004)

I've had very good results using just play sand. Bought from W-Mart. Also some sand from where they dredge the Mississippi. Had to rinse it about 10,000 times but, it hasn't harmed any of my filters. I have it in 3 tanks. 

As for plants, you want to use root tabs for things like swords and crypts. Most everything else gets nutrients from the water column. I've had great success with different Hygros, crypts, sags, dwarf lilies, water sprite, etc. The sand really helps keep the plants in place, too. 

You definitely want Malaysian Trumpet Snails in there. They do an excellent job of keeping the sand from getting anaerobic. I do move things around often so maybe that's why the sand has stayed to clean. You just have to watch out for rocks or driftwood you put on top of the sand. It can get nasty under those.

So, there you have my $.02


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

I agree with Saraborah. The last time I had my current 20g setup(before I tore it down), I had mostly generic playsand mixed with a little bit of peat and root tabs scattered around. WOW, when I would get a whiff of the sand, such as doing major cleaning/moving stuff, or when I eventually took it down, that was a stench like no other I've had in aquaria! It smelled like (don't mean to be crass) a nasty fart, rotten egg smell.
-Ryan


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## bigpow (May 24, 2004)

I've been using playsand only for one year and so far so good, no funny smell.
It's those pre-washed playsand, washed again a dozen times.
Then again, I only have 1" of sand and lots of sand shifters. Maybe that's why my sand doesn't carry an-aerobic bacteria?


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## istellas (Aug 25, 2005)

Rex Grigg said:


> ...I would still place a thin layer of peat moss under it and a box of laterite.


Rex hi,

I hear you are all talking about peat moss and laterite. I live in Greece and I have asked a few petshops with only aquariums but they don't quite know what these two things are really are :icon_frow Is peat moss the same as black peat that is to be used in the filters? If not can you suggest a company (site with product photo) that has so I can show them what this is? The same stands for laterite.

Sorry for that kind of questions, but the things here in Greece are now starting to grow about aquariums.

Thanx


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## motard (Jan 16, 2005)

bigpow said:


> I've been using playsand only for one year and so far so good, no funny smell.
> It's those pre-washed playsand, washed again a dozen times.
> Then again, I only have 1" of sand and lots of sand shifters. Maybe that's why my sand doesn't carry an-aerobic bacteria?




same here. grows stuff fine, no issues. no stank, no crap.
tho, i dont have a heavy fish load in the tanks with sand. i prefer flourite, but for grow out tanks and so forth, cheapo sand works for me.
simple grow out tank:


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## jgc (Jul 6, 2005)

lfs sold me what they called "blast sand" It has about 2mm granules I guess. I rinsed it fairly well. So far I don't think it has clouded the water much or has caused any smell issues. Most of my plants are doing fine - nothing to right home about, but doing ok. Algae is starting to come under control. All in all, no major issues.

That said, I will try something else next time I get the chance - if for no other reason than comparison. Am even considering doing partial exchanges of the existing substrait - but that too is a bit off.


The water originally was not this cloudy. I think it is probably a bacterial bloom, and hoping it will eventually cycle out on its own.


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

istellas said:


> Rex hi,
> 
> I hear you are all talking about peat moss and laterite. I live in Greece and I have asked a few petshops with only aquariums but they don't quite know what these two things are really are :icon_frow Is peat moss the same as black peat that is to be used in the filters? If not can you suggest a company (site with product photo) that has so I can show them what this is? The same stands for laterite.
> 
> ...


The peat moss I use is ground sphagnum peat moss used in the garden. Laterite is a iron rich clay.

Here is a link to laterite

http://aquariumpharm.com/aqplant.html


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## malkore (Nov 3, 2003)

I've experienced nothing but problems using very fine, silica playsand ($4 for 50lbs). I would never recommend anyone use this. It compacts too much, even with MTS in the tank, and the roots on my plants simply died.

Pool filter sand is far superior since its coarser and thus cannot compact, so the roots don't get destroyed. Along the same lines, tahitian moon sand is coarser than playsand, and works well as a planted substrate (with selective root tab fertilization)


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## matthewburk (Sep 22, 2005)

*mixing sand*

I have sand in my tank, got it from a rockyard and washed it for hours and hours and hours. The size of the grains are about 1-2mm nothing smaller than that. It all sinks pretty fast, withing a 1 or 2 seconds. However I recently cleared out my 90 gallon to redo it completely and the substrate stunk bad. eco-complete on bottom sand on top. I assumed it was the eco-complete but now I'm thinking its the sand after reading this thread. I picked up pool filter sand today. This stuff is big though, closer to gravel, all pieces are about the width of a nickel and my old sand is about he width of a penny. I was thinking I could mix the 2 sands together, would that be okay?


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## jimmydrsv (Apr 8, 2005)

I have never had problems with play sand. No smell or anything like that. Rooting plants has been very easy in the tank. I have grown swords fine. Never used root tabs. I thought it was not allowing my ludwigia repens to grow properly because of the compacting but ludwigia palustris seems to be doing fine now in it. I have uprooted my plants and re arranged over a dozen times without any smell or gases.

The sand doesn't even get sucked into my gravel vac even when i press it into the sand. It does float up a bit but settles afterwards. No clouding and the filters have been running fine. The sand seems better for me to clean as most of the debris remains on the surface and the current pushes it into the filter or areas near the plant stems that i just vac out very rapidly.

If you know anything about sand, sand in one place is most likely not the same sand as another place.


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## aquabillpers (Nov 28, 2003)

I think we need a definition of "play sand" that references the average particle size. 

The stuff I use is 2mm - 3mm in average diameter. 

Bill


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## TheOtherGeoff (Feb 11, 2003)

i have sand from a volley ball court in my 3 gallon.


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## yoink (Apr 21, 2005)

I first tried just play sand in a ten gallon, got the previously metioned stink pockets that turned the sand black. I redid it with some laterite under the sand. No more stink pockets, but now the two substrates are mixing and I believe excess iron is causing some string algea. I used south down play sand from home depot in Indiana. I wouldn't recommend either laterite or play sand.


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