jm_foote

I did a small experiment. I purchased Target playsand, SIL 7 sand and some store-brand sand. Cost: Store brand: A lot, over a dollar a pound. SIL: $6.50 for 100 pounds Target: About $6 per 50 pounds ph: none seemed to change ph Clean-ness: Store bough and Target are almost identical. Fairly clean, but would reccomend a couple rinses. After rinsing a couple of times, both sands gave almost perfectly clear water after a few minutes. The SIL was very dirty and left a mucky water a day later. Fines: Store bought stuff was very uniformily graded. Not many fine sands. The SIL was a little bit finer than the Target. I found the non-coloured Target stuff at Totem only. Home depot had target play sand but it was yellow. Rona had their own brand that was not cleaned/sanitized. Only problem is I bought 100 pounds of playsand fro my 30 gal aquarium (oops). Ohh well, wasted five bucks.

I got some driftwood from big al's. The stuff leaches like hell. I soaked in in bleach for a day, then boiled the hell out of it repeatedly (over and over and over and over....). Still leaching. I think it's the wood and will never stop. AC helps a bit, but after a day or two the ac becomes brown and doesn't work any more. Was going through way too much AC. I think I will try a different (and cheaper) source for wood.

I have a small (5 gal) betta aquarium with some live bamboo in it. the tops are out of the water of course (barely). Adds a nice touch to a bare corner of the apartment.

Thanks to everyone who posted. I think I will go with the Target playsand and will let everyone know how it works out. :beer:

I'm going to be starting up a new planted tank and don't want to fork forwards a fortune for substrate. Does anyone know where in edmonton I can find suitable substrate? I was thinking coarse sand. Any tips on what to choose would also be welcome. Thanks!!