silica sand?

1487 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by dawntwister, Jan 5, 2009

Seagul

Discussion Starter · Jan 5, 2009

i have like 90lbs of white silica sand, the quickcrete kind.

sold at most hardware stores as a concrete additive.
fine grain, very white and uniform.

can i use this in my tank?

the only reason i ask, is i know silica can and will release silicates into the water. A simple curing of the sand should work? shouldnt it?

let the sand sit for a few days until the silicates are leached out, then rinse, and add to the tank?

any info appreciated.

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dawntwister

· #2 · Jan 5, 2009 (Edited)

Silicia sand is inert. It is harmless. If you use only sand for substrate you have to use ferts. Many use root tabs.

I had it in a 10 gallon tank over dirt, El Natural style. Since we had a water shortage at time I set it up, I just rinsed the sand 1x. It took a few weeks for the cloud to go away. It got ugly after 3 months. It was impossible to get the mulm off. Recently put it in a 29 gallon tank with the sand in the front with no plants in it. Didn't rinse it. Just added nutrafin clear. It didn't get very cloudy and cleared up in a few weeks.

Hoppy is using it over a RUGF in his tank:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/78505-rfug-blast-past-diy.html

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