Sand substrate, possibly on amazon?

[taakotacco]

Hey all!

I was just wondering if anyone uses/knows of a fine sand substrate safe for use in axie tanks that you can buy securely online? I would love to be able to get it off amazon, but I will take other site recs as well, as long as they're secure! :happy:

 

[Karayna]

Virtually all fine sand that is deemed aquarium safe is safe for axies. Color is just a matter of taste - but dark sand for light axies and light sand for dark axies will make them pop!

 

[taakotacco]

Thanks so much (again!) Karayna!! I'm always nervous that I'm going to screw something up with my little guy lol, but I've had this aquarium sand in the tank for two weeks or so and everything seems fine, so I'll stick with it!

 

[Karayna]

You're welcome! Just wait and the nitrifying bacteria will take good hold!

I know it's scary, I had fish tanks for years, bred dwarf cichlids before getting my axies (and so I knew about cycling et.c.), but I was still afraid that something would happen to them... they're so personable and more "pet like" than most fish! True "water dogs".
Best of luck to you!

 

[Cheezehead7744]

I bought my purple Crayola sand online from Amazon. I paid about $20 for 20lbs. And then a few weeks later I was at Walmart and saw the same sand for $8 a bag. I'm guessing your looking online because you don't have access near you. One thing to note is that it's gonna be a bit more expensive to order sand online because most shipping is calculated by weight. That's not always the case though as a lot of places offer free shipping after you spend so much. There's a big online aquatic supply company called Big Al's. Also there is Dr. Foster and smith. You can try them too. I think I got free shipping from Big Al's a few years back.

 

[Biev]

You can get sand from Amazon and other online stores but you'll pay a fortune in shipping. It's much cheaper to get play sand from Home Depot or pool filter sand from any store that sells pool supplies.

 

[LippyNix]

I was going to purchase my sand online from Amazon, but my local pet store was able to special order it for me for slightly less! I always support local, independent stores when I can. I did a lot of research because that's just what I do. I have read that you need fine sand with a grain size of 1mm or less. That is not an easy thing to find out as it's not listed on the bags. I noticed a huge difference in grains from one type to the next in the stores, and in one case the 5# bags were much finer than the 20# bags of supposedly the same sand. I went to the CaribSea website, where they actually list grain sizes of their sand, as well as listing them as "soft belly" friendly. I purchased their Super Naturals in Tahitian Moon (black) as I have a leucistic and an albino. I warn you the rinsing is a pain, but that happens with pretty much any sand and you have to do it. I'm very happy with the sand, and the price ($23 or so for 20# with free Prime shipping) seemed reasonable to me. My aquatics experience has taught me that pool filter sand or play sand are too coarse, too dirty, require a ton of rinsing, and are overall not fit for aquarium use. Some people obviously feel otherwise.

 

[Biev]

I highly suspect that tahitian moon is actually coal slag (the company will neither confirm nor deny). Not saying you made the wrong call, but maybe just keep an eye out for scrapes, just in case it's not as soft belly-friendly as they claim...

 

[LippyNix]

I highly suspect that tahitian moon is actually coal slag (the company will neither confirm nor deny). Not saying you made the wrong call, but maybe just keep an eye out for scrapes, just in case it's not as soft belly-friendly as they claim...

Biev, what makes you say that? I had never even considered it being anything but sand. Also, when I stirred the sand in the bucket with my hand, it was not coarse or abrasive in the least.

I originally wanted the sand I had years ago for my African clawed frogs that was made for freshwater rays, but I couldn't find it.