Type of sand

kjnorman · Jan 3, 2014

Hi everyone.

I recently got a new tank with 2 adult axolotls in it. It came with a small amount of very fine grain aquarium sand, and I have added some large (larger than axolotl's head sized) river rocks, but the bottom is still pretty bare.

My local aquarium shop does not stock fine grain aquarium sand. They do however have fine grain terrarium sand - I'm wondering if it is the same thing? The package says suitable for desert animals, but axolotls are unusual enough that I don't think they would list 'suitable for axolotls' on the package even if it were.

Has anyone used 'desert terrarium sand' for axies?

Thanks!

axowattyl · Jan 3, 2014

I just used sand and rocks from the beach.

Some people here posted concerns about using beach sand but I've had no problems (I rinsed it thoroughly with fresh water).

To be honest if you rinse it, I'm sure whatever you have will be fine.

The pros of sand would definitely be that the poop and waste food stay on the surface where it can be easily vacuumed off helping with water quality, and that live earthworms don't seem to be able to burrow into it to hide.

No real cons other than beach sand is so fine my vacuum does suck a bit up.

I wont use rocks next major clean or setup.

Elise · Jan 3, 2014

I'm not that familiar with terrariums but if it's for reptiles, it will often not be silica sand but calcium carbonate and can have vitamins added. If you put this type of sand into your aquarium it would conflict with your water chemistry in a substantial way.

A couple good things to look for when shopping for packaged sand is that it is silica and inert. If the sand is not made for aquariums, bring a rare earth magnet to test for metals. I also choose to boil my substrate after washing as a precaution.

There is a good section on various sand as a substrate in the Axolotl-Friendly Aquascaping article. It's well worth a read.

kjnorman · Jan 3, 2014

Thanks for your comments.
I believe desert sand is different from the calcium carbonate sand - at least there is another product labelled 'calcium sand' or 'mineral sand' in the reptile area. Thanks for the tip about silica, though - I will check it out.

Beach sand is out of the question for now, since it's currently something like -40 where I am and there are a couple feet of snow over all the beaches

HayleyK · Jan 3, 2014

I've heard, well at least in my area, that desert sand is unsuitable as it's not meant to be wet and is ultra fine and takes a lengthy amount of time to "settle" (longer than usual sand), if it ever does with all the potential axolotl Olympics that occur in the tank :lol:

EmbryH · Jan 4, 2014

Desert sand + water = quick sand

I wouldn't recommend using beach sand even if it's thoroughly rinsed, because it can still contain particles that will mess with your water quality. If you're using beach sand and you haven't had any problems, then cool and I'm glad it's working out for you, but I'd be cautious about starting to use it.

Any kind of sand for reptiles is not to be used. Also, any kind of sand bought from petshop that says "for saltwater tanks" is also not acceptable.

The best thing to do is get silica based sand. In America we can buy a 50lb bag of "playsand" for about $3 at Home Depot. If you have an equivalent type of store in your area, it's worth looking into. Just know that any sand you use will need to be thoroughly rinsed before you add it to your tank. Rinsing also gives you a chance to make sure there are no stray pebbles or rock shards that might make their way into your tank.

The best way I've found to prepare a sand tank, is first get a 5gallon bucket and cover the bottom of the bucket with about 5 inches of sand. Use a garden hose to rinse it, swirl the bucket around and stir the sand with your hand to make sure all of it gets rinsed. Most of the sand should stay in the bottom of the bucket, while the dust and other light particles swirl in the water. Pour off the water until you're left with mostly sand in the bucket, then repeat. You might need to rinse the same 5 inches of sand 3-5 times, depending on how dirty it was. Once you've rinse it enough times that the water stays relatively clear in the bucket, you can drain it and put a different load of sand in until you have enough to cover the bottom of your tank with about 1-2.5 inches.

Also, I know if may seem obvious to some of us, but it doesn't hurt to say that you want to make sure your tank is empty of water when you're adding sand. So completely drain your tank, lay down the sand, slowly add water until the tank is about half full, then add your plants and caves and continue adding water until the tank is full.

Boom! You've got yourself a gorgeous and easy-to-clean sand tank for your axolotls. Be prepared for the boundless cuteness of axolotl footprints.

Hope this helps

mackinthebox · Jan 4, 2014

another suggestion besides play sand would be Pool Filter Sand, its silica based and has a particle size o .5 to 1mm so its very fine and its mostly round too

Jan · Jan 4, 2014

Have a look at this article from our Caudata Culture area:

Caudata Culture Articles - Aquarium Substrates

axowattyl · Jan 6, 2014

EmbryH said:
Desert sand + water = quick sand

I wouldn't recommend using beach sand even if it's thoroughly rinsed, because it can still contain particles that will mess with your water quality. If you're using beach sand and you haven't had any problems, then cool and I'm glad it's working out for you, but I'd be cautious about starting to use it.

Any kind of sand for reptiles is not to be used. Also, any kind of sand bought from petshop that says "for saltwater tanks" is also not acceptable.

The best thing to do is get silica based sand. In America we can buy a 50lb bag of "playsand" for about $3 at Home Depot. If you have an equivalent type of store in your area, it's worth looking into. Just know that any sand you use will need to be thoroughly rinsed before you add it to your tank. Rinsing also gives you a chance to make sure there are no stray pebbles or rock shards that might make their way into your tank.

The best way I've found to prepare a sand tank, is first get a 5gallon bucket and cover the bottom of the bucket with about 5 inches of sand. Use a garden hose to rinse it, swirl the bucket around and stir the sand with your hand to make sure all of it gets rinsed. Most of the sand should stay in the bottom of the bucket, while the dust and other light particles swirl in the water. Pour off the water until you're left with mostly sand in the bucket, then repeat. You might need to rinse the same 5 inches of sand 3-5 times, depending on how dirty it was. Once you've rinse it enough times that the water stays relatively clear in the bucket, you can drain it and put a different load of sand in until you have enough to cover the bottom of your tank with about 1-2.5 inches.

Also, I know if may seem obvious to some of us, but it doesn't hurt to say that you want to make sure your tank is empty of water when you're adding sand. So completely drain your tank, lay down the sand, slowly add water until the tank is about half full, then add your plants and caves and continue adding water until the tank is full.

Boom! You've got yourself a gorgeous and easy-to-clean sand tank for your axolotls. Be prepared for the boundless cuteness of axolotl footprints.

Hope this helps

I really don't get this as beach sand is a silica based sand.

I could understand if pollution/litter was your concern (is that it?), but I am lucky enough to live in a place with some of the most pristine beaches in our country if not the world.

Do you really trust "Home Depot" more than nature?? I certainly don't.

Other than that I use your rinsing, etc methods exactly the same, and have some crystal water and happy hungry axies.

Each to their own I would say, good results are the real answer.

EmbryH · Jan 6, 2014

axowattyl said:
I really don't get this as beach sand is a silica based sand.

I could understand if pollution/litter was your concern (is that it?), but I am lucky enough to live in a place with some of the most pristine beaches in our country if not the world.

Do you really trust "Home Depot" more than nature?? I certainly don't.

Other than that I use your rinsing, etc methods exactly the same, and have some crystal water and happy hungry axies.

Each to their own I would say, good results are the real answer.

The issue would be the fact that the sand is on a salty beach and has who knows what in it from ocean creatures. There could be any kind of harmful bacteria hiding in it. That risk is reduced when you rinse it thoroughly, but even then you have the risk of fragments of shells or coral in the sand, which can mess with the tank's PH levels.

Like I said, if you've been able to use it and nothing bad as happened, then awesome! That's great! No problems there! But not everyone lives near pristine beaches that aren't heavily mixed with coral fragments. Just taking sand from a beach is a wildcard because you can't be sure of exactly what's in it. Different beaches are made of different things, so perhaps you got lucky, but I'd certainly be more at ease with sand that has been thoroughly rinsed and checked for quality.

Basically, I'm not saying that you should change your sand to some bought from a store. I'm merely saying that people shouldn't be running to the closest beach with a bucket, intent on filling their tanks.

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