Sand and filter question

[Jade]

Hi, getting my tank started up n cycling before my little ones are bigger. Just wondering if any of you knowledgable people here know where I would find pink good quality aquarium sand? And also what type of filter is best when getting the cycle process started?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jade

[Chris]

you will preferably need a filter that will turn over the entire body of water in the tank atleast 2 times a hour without making much or any current, as axies will stress in flowing water and keep in mind that power filters can add unwanted heat to the tank water.

try adding a few guppies or white cloud minnows to the tank to help kick start and speed up the cycle, give it about 3 weeks to a month.

as for the pink sand, I'm afraid I cannot help.

[pegasus]

Hi Jade,

you can get good quality reptile pink sand online, its quite expensive tough but worth it, in Aus u can get lake eyre sand about $20 kilo, but im not sure in uk, u could always google reptile places and order online thou

Peg

[Jackie Blackwell]

In most instances, reptile sand is NOT axolotl safe. Alot of times, it has additives that can harm your axolotls. Personally, I wouldn't get that stuff anywhere near the tank. So be very careful if you decide to even go that route.

[siona]

Maybe you could ask your LFS to order you in some pink sand? can't wait to see it when it's all up and running. How are the little guys doing btw??

[Meredyth]

Originally Posted by hypno monkey

Hi, getting my tank started up n cycling before my little ones are bigger. Just wondering if any of you knowledgable people here know where I would find pink good quality aquarium sand? And also what type of filter is best when getting the cycle process started?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jade

The best filter to use is the one you ultimately intend to use on the tank in question. The point of cycling after all is to get the good bacteria into your filter but as Chris said it needs to filter the volume of you tank at least twice an hour without creating a heap of current in the tank.

I'd be asking you LFS to get you in some 1mm or smaller Pink sand if you really want pink but I'm sure there are places online that will sell it to you cheaper, even with postage.
I'd avoid anything labeled reptile for he reasons stated above and because typically reptile sand is not designed to be used under water and contains chemicals, both naturally occurring and added, that can mess with your water chemistry.

There are plenty of aquarium safe decorator sands out there in hot pink colors.
Rista have a wide selection of colored sands that I know others have used in their aquariums but you would need to ask what each one is made of. A couple of them have glitter which would obviously make it inappropriate for an aquarium.
Crayola colored play sand has been mentioned on the forums here before now but not sure how suitable it is for the aquarium but given it's safe for kids to play in I imagine it would be ok. It all comes down to what they use to colour it.

I suggest this next one knowing very little about the size of it and it would require some more research before you even consider purchase it for axies!
Roman gravel comes in a barbie pink BUT I have no idea of the actual size of this one. All I know is it's a very fine gravel but given it's called a gravel (technically this class is 2mm and up) it may still be too big for an axie tank particularly of you have anything smaller than an adult in there. You're looking for a maximum size of 1mm to be absolutely safe. Maybe you can email Pettex and ask them how big it is before you consider it. It is a very pretty pink though.

I still think your lfs is your best bet though. Mine carries a few different coloured sands in various sizes so they are out there.

[Jade]

Hi guys, thank you for all your help. Pink sand isn't too important I'd rather know they were safe than put something in there that could harm them. If my search fails I shall just go for some tahitan moon sand or caribsea do one with pink in it just not BRIGHT pink. also do a nice white one, but for poo purposes not sure how that will go haha

Jade

[mewsie]

Originally Posted by hypno monkey

also do a nice white one, but for poo purposes not sure how that will go haha

Jade

At least you'd be able to see it clearly!

(Re: that link, I don't know about anyone else on here, but I've had numerous problems with Seapets and wouldn't go anywhere near them again)

[Jade]

Originally Posted by mewsie

At least you'd be able to see it clearly!

(Re: that link, I don't know about anyone else on here, but I've had numerous problems with Seapets and wouldn't go anywhere near them again)

cheers for that, yea I'll stick to where I know is safe. Haha never thought of the White sand in that way, White it is then

[Coldnorthtoy]

Originally Posted by MereB

Crayola colored play sand has been mentioned on the forums here before now but not sure how suitable it is for the aquarium but given it's safe for kids to play in I imagine it would be ok. It all comes down to what they use to colour it.

I know this is an old thread, but I'm doing some research and I wanted to drop a reference to this thread at cichlid-forum.com for anyone else who happens to be searching and comes across this thread.

Of note are the posts by CRAYOLASAND ADMIN starting about 3/4 of the way down:

... we get about 50-100 animal/fish safety questions a month. To date - Not a single animal - fish or furry has been reported to be harmed, sick or ill...

The sand is perfectly rounded, so no sharp edges (thus no dust either). As you read - non-toxic, but also lead free. The colorant is bonded to the sand at 250 degrees, and also the colorant is environmentally friendly. As a matter of fact we don't even use chemicals in our cleaning process - it undergoes an extremley hot water wash.

Like all Crayola products, we don't do any animal testing ... [but] ... I've have fish swimming in blue and green sand in my office [for three years], and they are the same fish.

Cheers!