Would sand right off the Beach be safe?

[Corrupt Humor]

I'm not paying 25$ for washed play sand......

Would sand off the Beach be a safe substrate If washed?

 

[ilomilo]

I've always heard that using beach sand for any animal [even reptiles] is a pretty big no-no, so I would advise against it. And 25 bucks, really? Where are you looking? The lowes and Home Depot in my neck of the woods sells 50 lb bags for under 10 dollars each.

 

[Corrupt Humor]

Petsmart's prices for pretty much anything are outrageous...
I will check Lowes.

 

[loveaxolots]

hello, instead of using sand, i suggest just having nothing on the bottom because it is easier to clean the tank when doing water changes.well atleast to me tho. good luck.

 

[Gromky]

If you're going to use sand I would say use play sand from the hardware store, unless you really love the look of the stuff at the pet store. But you're going to have to wash it, and wash it, and wash it...and it will still probably cloud the water for a little bit. Also, checking for iron with a magnet is a good idea, and always test for pH changes with any material.

I've actually used sand I've collected from the wild in a fish tank successfully. I found some absolutely fantastic garnet sand (well over 50% of the grains are crushed garnet), and I treated it much like you would deal with driftwood. I boiled it like crazy before use, and I let it soak in water and tested pH/KH as well as ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. Basically anything you collect for the wild you have to be sure is both inert and sterile before use.

 

[Bdyoung]

You could get the beach sand and bleach it. It would kill anything living in the sand. Then jut thoroughly rinse it out afterwards. However I just go the the hardware store an buy play sand for 5$.

 

[chopper]

I have 8 axolotl tanks and have beach sand in all of them with no Ill effects. Just boil the sand first to sterilise it and remove the salts( which are then poured out).then rinse out all the remaining debris with cold water from tap until sand is cool enough to use.

 

[RupertxGiles]

I would also not recommend beach sand. Your axolotl's health depends on it, so i would not take the risk. I got my sand at petco, on clearance. Paid about $30 for all the sand I needed for a 40 gallon and a 29 gallon. It will last you a long time, so I think it is worth it. When you are setting up a tank there are always some initial start up costs you should be aware of.

 

[mikeg]

I use beach sand in 2 of my tanks. No deaths in the tanks that have sand from the beach in, the axolotls in the tank are about 6 inches there. If you are going to use beach sand make sure you kill everything in the sand and make sure what ever you used to cure the sand is washed out completely, most sand bought from the store comes from the beach anyways.

 

[chopper]

When I first started keeping axolotls 18 yrs ago I lived in remote township with no supplies of sand available so tried my luck with beach sand and because it worked out OK I have used it on and off since. I prefer river sand as its better, however when I use beach sand I just make sure I collect far way from the ocean way up into the sand dunes. I have tried using no substrate on several occasions for ease of cleaning but some of the axolotls tend to get sores on their feet so I stick to sand. I used to be keeper of reptiles and amphibians at a public aquarium and we had this problem with several of the captives there too when no substrate was used.

 

[Krispen]

I got mine at lowes for $4.00 per 50 pounds!!

 

[jasper408]

I use beach sand in four of my tanks, with each having a different species.

I just rinsed the sand and then boiled it.