Lake Sand Good Bad??

[Ishkabod]

My parents cabin has a large beach and i was hoping to dig some sand and use that in my tank. Are there any problems with thins other than the obvious rinsing and disease issues.

Oh and what about keeping the sand from becoming a horrid place for bad bacteria. What should i do about that.

Thanks

L

[Shai]

Rinse it, boil it to sterilize, rinse some more. Sift it when it's dry. Rinse it again.

After all that, once it's in your tank it shouldn't be any different than if you'd used any other sand.

[Ishkabod]

Thought so. Thanks now all i need to get is a sand sifter. I don't think i'll boil it but i'll be using Potassium Permaganite(sp?) to sterilize it and i'll rinse and dry it out. That is IF i go this way. If i fin really really really cheap sand then this idea might just go the way of the dodo bird.

Thanks

L

What about Anaerobic bacteria build up in the sand?? :well:

[Vallisneria]

Is there a particular reason you want to use lake sand? Its going to be a lot of work to sterilize it, clean out all the organic bits, and wash it.

A bag of clean play sand costs 5$

[Ishkabod]

I have lots of free time but little money so taking a little time to get free sand up to snuff sounds worth it to me.

Now about the bad bacteria build up.

Any answers :well: :well: :well: :well: :well:

[Vallisneria]

I would bake it or boil it to kill all the critters, then sift out the organic matter(dead snails, plant bits etc), then wash the heck out of it until it looks clean.

I would put it in the tank, fill it with water and let the tank run for a few days. Test the water to see if you get a spike any ammonia/nitrites. If you didn't clean out all the dead stuff it will start to rot and pollute the water. Then once all the levels are normal, put in a test fish and see how it goes.

Not sure about dead bacteria build up, but letting it run for a few days will let you know if anything is decaying and messing up the water.

[Crystal]

To prevent anaerobic bacteria you need to stir the sand.

You can do this manually once every week or so with a stick or hands, etc.

I use Malaysian trumpet snails or sphixi snail to dig through it for me. The malaysians reproduce like mad and most people will give you a generous pail or two for free... I prefer the spixis just because of their coloration, yellow with black stripes. They don't multiply as readily as most snails - and can be readily sold (many go for $3 each...). They may munch delicate plants if they run out of food (leftovers, algae, etc), but are easily deterred with a slice of zucchini.

Spixis won't dig below the 1" level, and the Malaysians will dig to china if you let them... I often mix the two for a combination of beauty and utility.

Edited June 17, 2009 by Crystal

[Ishkabod]

Thanks for the info. I think i might try the spixis type if i find that stirring is too annoying.

Thanks everyone

L

[Boom]

All my tanks have sand in them, every water change I just stir the sand up, and siphon out all the gunk I can see. You have to be careful of pockets of harmful gas that can get trapped in the sand. Stirring regularly will prevent it.

I second the suggestion on buying cheap sand. For me, the risk of not killing whatever may be harmful in lake sand is worse than the few buck I'd save. But thats just me.

Boom :boom:

[BettaFishMommy]

i believe the gas pockets and anaerobic bacteria will only build up if you have a deep sand bed. how deep are you wanting your sand to be in this tank?

[Shai]

If you decide to buy playsand (it's what I use too) I still recommend sifting it before rinsing. The bag I got had a lot of gravel in it (and a stick!) and I didn't sift before it went into the tank. Now all the gravel has worked its way to the surface. It looks pretty bad (IMO) and it will be a big job to suck it out and sift it while it's wet.

You can get a cheap metal sieve from Wal-Mart or the dollar store, or use window screen. Just make sure the holes are small enough.

[African_Fever]

Frac sand is usually free if you can find somewhere to get it. They use it in the oilfield by the truckload, so if you can take getting laughed at over asking for a couple 5-gallon pails of it, it's worth getting. I use it in all my tanks, and only once have I actually had to clean it (they need it super clean for what it's used for).

[rocker85675]

i think the only reasonable sugestion is to host an aa cabin party and we can have a good look at the sand :drunk:

[Iceturf]

i think the only reasonable sugestion is to host an aa cabin party and we can have a good look at the sand :drunk:

Truely the only and best answer to the problem :smokey:

[sharuq1]

How much sand do you need? I have about 4 gallons of rinsed out sand from my sw tank. Was thinking of using it again, but I haven't decided.