Sand

[Jcc]

Hello, I am new to the forum and had a question that has most likely been asked before but would like to hear it from people with more experience in the hobby. I was wondering what the viability of using play sand as a substrate for a reef tank or fish only tank would be? Thanks

[Higher Thinking]

I've not used it in a reef, but I have it in one of my planted fresh water tanks. The one thing I can say is that you'll definitely want to rinse the heck out of that stuff. It comes pretty muddy.

[Vance164]

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to use it in a reef since most reef sand is argon it's which increases ph where play sand is silica based. I could be wrong but that would be my understanding.

[Jeramy]

It might look a little out of place with the color most substrates used in reef tanks are black or white not sure how well it would look in a brightly lit and colorful reef with the tanish brown color. Physically though I don't think it would pose a problem and is very cheap which is a plus. Might look good in a display fuge though.

[youcallmenny]

Considering the general pricing of reef tank equipment and livestock, why cut corners on something as inexpensive as the substrate? There's probably more than a few very valid reasons why you shouldn't do this (sand base material, color etc) but honestly what does a couple bags of live/dry reef sand cost? As much as a single coral or fish in a lot of cases.

 

You tend to get what you pay for in this hobby and cutting corners isn't a great way to start in my opinion.

 

Here's a great vendor to buy sand and rock from: http://www.reefrocks.net

Edited December 7, 2016 by youcallmenny

[Jcc]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I was just a bit curious about the topic. As I had seen the sand at home Depot and it made me wonder. Thanks again.