Beach sand and pebbles

[Milan]

I'm currently in Penticton BC on vacation. Nice beaches ... What caught my eye is beach sand and pebbles. I can probably scoop up a pale of this sand but I'm not sure if it would be suitable for aquarium substrate. It looks like play sand. Would vinegar be good enough to test it, or I have to use the muriatic acid?

[rahim101]

I would think any substrate would be ok as long as it is clean properly to get any and all the polutants and bacteria's out of it.

I would do a good boiling on the sand for 10-15 minutes, then let cool and rinse, rinse, and rinse some more.

I think that should do the trick!!!!

[Vallisneria]

Or instead of boiling you could try baking it in the oven. That would kill any baddies but you could still have to rinse and clean it well to make sure any debris is gone.

[Milan]

Thanks guys. I'm aware of sanitizing, but my question was more about how to test the stuff for presence of lime. I'm wondering if vinegar would be adequate for this. Of course, muriatic acid is the ultimate thing, but to my knowledge it's hard to find. How about CLR? That should be HCL based ... or perhaps something else ...???

[Vallisneria]

Using vinegar works. When i was shopping around of substrate i would test it by putting some gravel in a cup and adding a bit of vinegar(enough to cover, makes it easier to see if any bubbles are forming). Worked just fine