# beach sand?



## imported_selena (Oct 4, 2004)

hi guys i know this is probebly a stupid question...BUT i found this beautiful beach with Red sand, its on the atlantic ocean, and i was thinking it would look really nice in a tank. Could i use this salty sand in a fresh water set up? 
I wound like Frontosa's, but dont know if their would be too much salt residue? What are your thoughts or suggestions. I also was considering a brakish, or salt water set up.


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## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

I would think that the problem with using beach sand wouldn't be the salt, as that could be washed away. Of more concern would be the little bits of seashells that the sand is comprised of. As they dissolved in your tank they would definitely send your KH and GH through the roof.


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## joemomma (Apr 7, 2006)

You can also run into other things that might contaminate your tank (bacteria, pollution, etc.). Most beaches aren't very "clean"....check with some of the marine guys, none of them recommend using locally available sand in their tanks.


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## AlexTal (Mar 23, 2006)

If you were to use it for a salt water tank, you could try what I do with my bearded dragon and I find something outside. You thouroughly wash it to get out anything other than the sand (this part can take a while). Then you put it on a pan and stick it in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. The oven will sterilize it at that temp for that time. It's not advised to do with rocks larger than sand if you don't know that the rock is only one material uniform throughout. What I mean is if the rock has an inside that has a lower melting temperature than the outside out the rock due to different materials, the rock can and might literally explode due to a pressure buildup. Sand, however, is perfectly fine.

I'm sure someone out there has tried it before with sand from the beach. Do a search and see peoples' stories. For the reason listed above with the GH and KH, I wouldn't use it for fresh planted - maybe with some experimenting you could figure something out for african cichlids.

Send in a picture of the sand, I'm interested to see what it looks like. While I've only had one saltwater tank, I'm a big advocate for a deeper substrate bed, so you might want to still mix it with something - or at least I would.


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## anthonysquire (Mar 15, 2006)

I think it would probably work for Frontosa's since they need harder water. I would be concerned more about possible contaminates like from pollution. You could try what AlexTal said to possibly sterilize the sand.
I too have some beach sand I may use for a shell dweller tank. Let us know if it works out o.k.


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## imported_selena (Oct 4, 2004)

I dont have a camera right now but when i get one ill send a pic. The beach seems very clean, and the sand is clean there aren't alot of shells or debree and i dont believe it is polluted. I want to do a front tank, and they like crazy gh and kh, so i think it would work. Im going to go with it, and well see what happens.


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