fishie4me Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 ummmz... my uncle can get me some sand called "plaster sand" i was wondering if anyone here have used it before and wether it is aquarium safe or not? any help at all would be very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITEvolution Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Hi, I have used it in 3 of my tanks mixed with shell grit with no problems at all. Just make sure you wash it thoroughly before you use it. Cheers Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Hi Hieu - No idea . I use the somewhat poorly named "washed" river sand from bunnings. Works a treat (after much washing) and only costs $8 for 25kg or so. HTH - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Hi Hieu - No idea . I use the somewhat poorly named "washed" river sand from bunnings. Works a treat (after much washing) and only costs $8 for 25kg or so. HTH - YeW, from bunnings?? i just love bunnings! that's great. do you have any photos of what it looks like in your tank? i'm planning on converting to sand. Cheers, Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kribbie Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Yeah!! Me too!! I would like to have a look at those "washed" river snad as well~ and oh....just a quick question, is "beach sand" safe to use in aquarium? I mean those real sand at beaches....reckon they would contain sea salts but just curious about it... Cheers, Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 I don't know about where you live, but beach sand here is made from crushed coral, and hence gives a alkaline buffering effect. I guess with africans it may be ok, as long as that fine of a sand suits them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHOGG Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 I have beach sand in with my Tanganyikans.. They love it. It made a big difference when I changed over from gravel. I know this may not have been the right thing to do but I got the sand from the sand dunes at Kurnell. (Not too far to go from Hursy Grace). All of my fish dig in it constantly. I level it out every water change and they churn it all up in a couple of days. Frontosas love it. Make sure you give it a good rinse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbuna Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 don't know about where you live, but beach sand here is made from crushed coral, and hence gives a alkaline buffering effect. I guess with africans it may be ok, as long as that fine of a sand suits them? your lucky, people pay bucks for coral sand in sydney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 don't know about where you live, but beach sand here is made from crushed coral, and hence gives a alkaline buffering effect. I guess with africans it may be ok, as long as that fine of a sand suits them? your lucky, people pay bucks for coral sand in sydney Pity it's illegal to collect it (without a permit) & I'm a new world cichlid fan then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukasbobjim Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 What a shame Ash, when I saw your post about the sand here being coral sand I was running down to the strand basically lol. Oh well I might just go to Palleranda and have a look Thx Luke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 There is a small bay on the back of the island that is just coral rubble, it's part of 5 beach bay - pity it's a marine park so it's even more illegal! Look at secluded beaches where the sand is whiter & there are less people around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 These are the best I have. Same stuff as Dave uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 that is nice!!! Who is Dave? Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kribbie Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 That's what I want to get, too!!! I can't find any around sydney though... hmmm....so...is it illegal in Sydney if I just scoop a bucket of beach sand back home? Or, does anyone know where I can get this type of sand from LFS in Sydney? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 YeW Posted: Apr 26th 2004 @ 20:47 Hi Hieu - No idea . I use the somewhat poorly named "washed" river sand from bunnings. Works a treat (after much washing) and only costs $8 for 25kg or so. HTH - Yew is Dave or should I say Dave is Yew. The Boss..... Kribbie, You can but if you get caught watch out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kribbie Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Yea...there's a risk to be caught~ Just's that i've heard from some members in this forum that they just use beach sand in their tanks.. I'll just keep on looking for some "legal" ones in LFS instead~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownfish Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Hi again this is probably a dumb question but they're often the best and so I tend not to hold fire. How do you clean sand? After a few months of stuffing around setting up my 8fter, I have to bite the bullet on substrate and the sooner the better. I have plenty of plain light to yellow coloured gravel mixed in with a fair amount of quite fine coral rubble but everyone seems to be of the opinion that sand is the way to go. It's a sump filtered tank but I was going to put some power heads in the to stir up the mix and am worried that my C.mooris will play the old 'wreck the pump game'. I have to admit that the sand from Bunnings sounds tempting. Any advice before I go and do something stupid? Cheers Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITEvolution Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Hi Richard, Forget the bunnings sand Just head to your local landscape supplier and get some plasters sand there. I go to Mitchell landscape supplies only because its the closest one to me. Last time I went there I filled up 2 big eskies full of sand for $2. Wasking the sand is a pain ... but I just wash it in the eskies ... about 1/3 full of sand at a time. Just rinse the sand out with the hose untill the water starts to clear. Cheers Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Hi Richard, Forget the bunnings sand Just head to your local landscape supplier and get some plasters sand there. I go to Mitchell landscape supplies only because its the closest one to me. Last time I went there I filled up 2 big eskies full of sand for $2. Wasking the sand is a pain ... but I just wash it in the eskies ... about 1/3 full of sand at a time. Just rinse the sand out with the hose untill the water starts to clear. Cheers Adam so who else is gonna be at the mitchell landscape supplies this weekend??? Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownfish Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Sounds good Adam. Is it fairly white though? I don't want a washed out kind of colour. I'll have to start looking around for containers Cheers Richard PS - Grace, if I do go to Mitchell then I can easily swing by Narrabunda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
23Skidoo Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 The river sand i use is from a local place up here, it has a lot more variation in particle size though, so i've got a bit more of a mixed substrate, they vary in size from 2-3mm pieces down to fine sand, it's great even my Julies love it. I have also recently got a hold of a bag of 'Unimin" sand, it's used in laying epoxy floors in bars and restaurants and is pretty pricey unless you can 'borrow' a bag from a Tradey. It comes in 20kg bags like concrete, and is super fine! In a tank with heaps of water movement i'd say too fine. But it looks really nice and the Malawi's seem to like it. It even seems to buffer the pH up a bit, about 0.5-0.7 higher. I have no idea what the sand actually is but it looks almost as white as coral sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phenomena Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Hi all, Just adding, beach sand, river sand, are all ok. I've used both and never want to turned back since then. I prefer beach sand than river. I found beach sand cleaner and more consistent in grain size, also a bit larger. River sand...ouch a pain in washing them...even if you think they're clean, once you dump it in the tank it clouds the water instantly (lots of mud). You need to let your filter to do the job and let the sand settle...They're finer and darker (more black grains - looks dirtier) You can get both from most landscape suppliers that sells soils, gravels, sands, just look at the yellow pages and give'm a ring... Very cheap too...so no point taking it from the beach or river... HTH, DD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishie4me Posted April 28, 2004 Author Share Posted April 28, 2004 Phenomena, i was interested in the beach sand at first but didn't wknow here to get them so i changed to plaster sand... now that i know you can get them from a landscrapers.... i was interested in how you prepare the sand before adding it to the tank, like did you boil it or just washed it? or any other thigns that you have to do before adding the beach sand into the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kribbie Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 I've just searched in the yellowpages and found two suppliers that are local to me~ One of them got: "Washed Sydney (Newcastle) sand", are these beach sand? does anyone knows the difference between these two? Phenomena, I'm interested in how you would prepare your beach sand, too~ mind to share on how you clean them? so you would recommend us to use beach sand rather then those river sand? Fishaddiction, I've heard of people using plaster sand before, but seem couldn't find it in those supplier lists...where do you get it from and do u have any pics on this type of sand? Thanks! Heidi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREAQ Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 I used to work for a landscape supplier in Wollongong and our Sydney washed beach sand came from Kurnell, and the washed river sand came from Marulan (near Goulbourn). But that was about 10 years ago. They both had fine parciles but the beach sand was smaller and more consistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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