FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Just want to get opinions. But i'm going to set up a tank with salamanders and was going to use sand as the substrate.

And read a while back that someone said you can use play sand as long as you clean it. if this is true or false, please let me know.

and yes i know about sand and filters. i'm already working on ways of getting around that issue

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

Hey monkeyboy I didn't know the answer to your question, so I did a little searching around as I know it can be bad for darts to use sand for a substrate because they can accidentally eat it and can very easily become impacted.

However after looking on these forums it seems that while a possibility, most salamanders and newts do just wonderful with play sand as a substrate. I would guess this is due to the size and eating habits.

I know that otherwise playsand is just a plain ol' silica sand, so it will be fine for use, as it will leach nothing into the water.

Good luck...and I suggest you look around those forums, and use the search function, they were very informative.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

would this be a good sand to use?

http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/SandPremiumPlay.asp

There is also a doc on the page that gives more details about whats in it and warnings and stuff, didnt see anything about fish.

This is what I was going to get and try, as what I already had I found out wouldnt work.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

Monkeyboy,
I used play sand in my fishtank at work for awhile, not sure of the brand but it was homedepots generic play sand. The reason you wash it is because even though they say it's washed and screened, you still have a lot of dust that clogs up a fishtank filter.

Past that I tried everything that was suggested about HOB filters for saving the impeller, still went through three before I switched substrates back to gravel. You might be better off running an air driven filter for the tank Good luck with it and let us know how it works for you I'd love to see someone sucessful with sand it really does look stunning.

^_^

thanks. yea i planned on cleaning it up in buckets for a few days. as far as filtration. i'm going to go with something similar to what the salt tanks do with the surface skimmer and over flow and a diy external wet dry.

its a full work in progress and will have pics when its done.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I always use dirt and stone for my salamanders/newts,they love it and they always have a little pool of water as well.

Yup. I'm that crazy Twilight/animal/music girl

I use pool filter sand on my african cichlid tank. It works really well and it is made up of heavy and large particles so I haven't had any problems with it getting sucked up or clogging the filter. You should look into it.

i use home depot's play sand. cleaned it in a 5 gallon bucket about 20-40 times just putting water in, dumping it out. Well it still wasn't 100% clean, but after the initial cloud of sand after putting water in, haven't had a problem yet with the HOB filter or anything.