Sand does it really matter what i use???

Do I really have to buy the sand from the fish store. I can I use the kind I would put in my kids sand box???

you dont have to buy the sand from the fish store but if you are going to use something other than that i woudl recommend pavestone pulverised livestone. i have heard of people making remote deep sand beds using play sand (i made one in a 5 gallon bucket under my tank). but i would not use it as the sand in my tank.

Pool Filter sand works great you can get it at Home depot for $5 a bag. A bag is 50 LBS. Put the sand in a 5 gallon buckett and rinse it. When I rinse it I just put the hose in the botton of the buckett and lett the water fill up and over flow. Most of the cloudy xtra cr@p will rise to the top and spill out the sand wont rise. If you want a white sand look you can go to Leslies Pool supply and get the same thing but it cost $15 for a bag. You can also do play sand and paver sand. I just like the PFS better.

I am also found of the pool filter sand, but my preference is 3m color quartz. It is heavier than sand (easier to clean) and there are different bright colors, but it cost around $22 a bag. However, 3m recently announced that they will stop making it around December.

If you get the larger grained silica pool filter sand you can vac it almost like you would gravel.

this sand would be good for a saltwater set up PFS

igotatank wrote:

this sand would be good for a saltwater set up PFS

if you are going to use it in saltwater there is a simple test you can do. take some vinegar and pour it over a cup of the sand you want to use, if it foams (aragonite will foam up)you are good if not then i wouldn't use it. if it foams it will tell you that it is of a calcium carbonite type and will help in the buffering of your aquariums water parameters (ie. ph, corbonate alkalinity, etc.) which is good, another thing to consider it that from the way i understand it silica based sands have sharp edges which could hurt or kill sand burrowing inhabitants (your sand sifting crew) i have been looking into this for a long time myself and i have even considered it once or twice, but i myself do not feel comfortable about doing it because i have not heard of anyone else using anything other than southdown, or pavestone pulverised limestone (both of which are hard to get)

i found this while doing some research and it may be of benefit to you:

Silica sand and crushed or fragmented shell have a high soluble phosphate content. Further, silica sand will compact, creating anaerobic zones. Neither should be used in a marine aquarium. Suggested substrates are crushed coral or argonite sand.

this of course does not mention pulverised limestone but as you can see it did mention silica based sands (which i assume would be ok for freshwater tanks but not for saltwater)