Sand??

[blueberry_pye]

hi,
i would love your opinions on what sort of sand i should use for my tanks, i have a 75litre molly tank and am going to be starting a 54litre tank for my peppered corys and 2 platys i have removed from the molly tank so i can add salt to it and redo it better to suit them. So i know that the corys like soft water and fine sand its just a matter of whats going to be best and affordable. Im leaning towards play sand or pool filter sand for the cory tank your opinions would be greatly appreciated. Also another question i thought that i could use beach sand for my molly tank since they like brackish water if i boiled it and cleaned and soaked it thoroughly enough, but some people say not to use it no matter what u do because of other pollutants and others say you can do it. So i guess what i want to know is would beach sand be best for mollys and or play sand,pool filter sand? My tank is a planted one and i have more plants ive ordered online coming soon i was going to try and order some flourite to layer underneath the substrate i end up deciding is best.

 

[ryanoh]

I currently have play sand, and other than it taking a few more washings than other sands I don't really have any complaints about it. Its fairly cheap, but only comes in white so if you wanted something more colorful you'd have to pay a little bit more for something else.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I have used bulk sand that is used in construction. It is cheap. I run the sand thru a colander or some sort of homemade screen device. It depends on the size grains you wish to use. I discard the very fine stuff as it will stay suspended for days and will clog up filters for some time. It also seems to cause more packing .I do this before washing while it is still dry. Depending on the size of the screen used, you can sort out various sized grains.
It will require a lot of washing.

 

[IThinkTherefore]

Might want to also do a little research into which plants are okay with salt

 

[blueberry_pye]

yeah i have all the plants i have ordered are fine with salt

 

[blueberry_pye]

Thanks for the info everyone!

 

[lauraf]

I myself had a hard time with plants in sand. Sand can compact tightly, so some plant roots have a tough time spreading . . . . What kind of plants have you ordered?

 

[blueberry_pye]

Heres a list of the plants that i have ordered based on the research i have done on hardy plants that are fine in brackish water aswell as freshwater
hornwort
alternanthera reineckii (rosefolia)
amazon sword
dwarf lily plant ( nymphaea stellata)
bolbitis heudelotii, African water fern
wisteria
java fern
vallisneria spiralis
anubias nana

 

[ryanoh]

The way I've successfully been keeping plants in my sand is to but small terracotta pots and fill them with gravel. I keep both of my root feeding sword plants like this, and it works great.