Cheap local substrate?

[jm_foote]

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!!

[seajays]

In Edmonton yellow pages under sandblasting supplies look for SIL Industries. They have some white sand called " Gransaul 3.4 ". Nice stuff. I use it in all my tanks, easy to vaccum. Cost around $11.00 for 100 lbs. The are located east of the Beverly bridge south side of Yellowhead.

[jvision]

I use Seachem's Flourite in my planted tank; but, next time, I think I'll go the way of something MUCH less expensive... gonna want to set up a couple of bigger planted tanks in the future.

The stuff seajays mentioned would be ideal. To get things going, put a thin layer of mulm and/or peat (1/2" or so) to give it a CEC.

If you have a good hight in your tank, I'd go with 2" in the front sloped up to 5" in the back. Crypts, Swords, Aponageton, Lotus, etc. like a deep substrate. You'll want to add some Jobes Spikes for Ferns for the root feeders (like those plants mentioned above).

[DAlberta]

Go to your local hardware store and buy a few bags of "Target Play Sand". It is about $5 a bag.

Be sure to rinse the heck out of it before it gets to your tank though!

Dave :beer:

[seajays]

The stuff from SIL is off white and very clean.

[Sara]

I've used pool filter sand before - decently cheap and is a big enough grain so that it doesn't get sucked up during a gravel vac. You should be able to pick it up at any pool supply store. It's a little more beige/brown than the sandblasting sand - all depends on what look you're going for, I suppose.

[RD.]

I found Target play sand to be extremely clean right out of the bag, it's as natural 'sand' colored as one will ever find, and it's under $5 for a 55 pound bag. Home Depot carries it, as does Totem.

HTH

[jvision]

I've heard of people having trouble with Play Sand - I never have. However, I have always put the sand in the tank BEFORE adding any water. Not sure why others get cloudy tanks from TPS...

[RD.]

The problem with many play sands is the amount of clay in them, as well as the ultra fine particle size of the sand. With the exception of the Target product, I've yet to find a play sand that I would have ever considered in my tanks. I filled my tank up with approx 6" of water, then put the sand in so it could get rinsed as it went in, then I sucked the water out. After re-filling with fresh water the tank was crystal clear, and has been since.

[Vallisneria]

I tried Target playsand and didn't like it. I found it dirty but i just made sure I cleaned it well before adding it to the tank and didn't have much cloudiness). The problem i had was that the particles were too fine and even with a prefilter(AC sponge) over my AC intake some sand kept getting into the filter.

I prefer to use the SIL sand as you can get it in different sizes. I got a small bag of SIL #9 from Tanker and while back and it was exactly what i was looking for. It was what i'd consider a course sand/fine gravel. It didn't get sucked up into the gravel vac or filters.

But if you want gravel(what i use in most of my tanks) I use target brand gravel. Its about 3-4mm in grain size. I use it in all but 1 of my tanks.

[FishBrain]

Cheapest???

Go to a lake and fill a couple 5 G buckets.

Rinse very well and boil to kill anything!!

GL

[jm_foote]

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

:beer:

[RD.]

Val - I suspect that Target has since changed the sand that they use in their play sand, as it is neither dirty, nor fine. It's actually the largest grain size that I have ever seen in a sand sold as 'play sand. The only way it could get into a HOB filter, is if a fish spit a mouthful directly into the intake.

Here's an enlarged pic from my Tang tank (overexposed from the flash) but you can clearly see how large some of the grains are. The leleupi in the pic below is approx 3".

Here's a pic of it in my Malawi tank, with a 4" moorii.

and here's an overview of it in the same tank

[Vallisneria]

Val - I suspect that Target has since changed the sand that they use in their play sand, as it is neither dirty, nor fine.

Maybe, I tried it a couple years ago. The stuff i had was very fine and dusty. It looked a different then the stuff you have now. Less larger particles and more fine stuff.

[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.