The Planted Tank Forum banner

Sakrete Multi-Purpose Sand

5K views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  Bananableps 
#1 ·
Hi! Noob here. My daughter came home with some guppies from VBS back in August. My husband dug out an old 10 gallon he had in the basement with a filter and such and we set her up a small tank. I haven't had fish since my early 20s and back then, my setup was gravel and plastic decor :/ The whole planted tank idea is new to me but I figured I'd get my feet wet with hers. So we stuck with some java fern and moss and because she loves the color turquoise, some tacky blue gravel :D It's doing fine but we had some losses for a while despite the water levels being spot on. I noticed they were always after I siphoned the gravel and did a PWC. It seems that no matter how careful I am with the siphoning, 7 yr old feeding fish + 10 Gallon = some pretty dirty gravel. I presume the siphoning was releasing some gas into the tank that was making the fish ill. I now remove the fish to siphon and do a PWC every other week and it's a royal PITA. I'm thinking of switching her substrate to sand. I have a bag of the Sakrete in my basement that I bought to grow garden cuttings. Was thinking of using that but it seems to have mixed reviews. I found one post in this forum that deals with it but it didn't really address my concerns. Though the reply did cover the fact that the sand migrates to the bottom leaving small gravel on top. Perfect for siphoning purposes :D If I have guppies and glow fish and a pleco in there, will components in the sand mess with the pH too much? I'm dealing with that in my large tank where I had to remove some Texas Holey Rock because the pH and hardness shot way up. I thought it might but the salesman assured me otherwise. I should have done my homework first. I don't want the same scenario with this tank after changing out the substrate. Would love to know if anyone has used it successfully and maintained a neutral to slightly alkaline pH without having to use peat or other substances to maintain the ideal levels. Thanks so much!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Welcome!

I don't have experience with Sakrete, but I have worked with another brand of sand intended for concrete use. It was an enormous hassle to clean out all of the fine particles. In the end, I gave up and went with a different option.

Sand is pretty cheap. Yes, you can save money by rinsing Sakrete (and then there are also some concerns about toxic chemicals I believe?), but if you factor in the amount you are saving for time put in, I doubt you will break minimum wage. Pool filter sand and black diamond blasting grit are the preferred sand sources on this forum right now. Very clean and affordable.

You might also want to consider a fortified gravel like Eco-Complete or Aquasoil. These can be surprisingly expensive, and there is some doubt about their efficacy, but a lot of people also swear by them.

If you don't plan on buying an expensive pressurized CO2 setup, you can also vastly increase your plant options and growth rate by adding a small layer of soil (make sure no pesticides, herbicides, or chemicals fertilizers) underneath the sand cap. More plant growth = cleaner water!
 
#3 ·
Thank you! I am using the BDBG in my 120 which is a work in progress! As for this little tank, I'd like it to have an overall light appearance... I know my daughter will miss the blue so I'll buy her a turquoise mat or towel to place under the tank to protect her furniture. That should solve that. Now the only issue is finding the pool filter sand in NJ at this time of year LOL I think that's the way I want to go. Even if I siphon up some sand when cleaning, it's easy enough to rinse, drain, add the new water, dechlorinate, and dump the new water and clean sand back in the tank with PWC. Again, thank you! I'll check out the 'for sale' section I just found on here and see if anyone is ridding themselves of PFS in my area :D
 
#5 ·
I found pool filter sand at Home Depot, was kept outside. Pool store did not carry it.
If you suck it up don't worry you will have plenty. Since I siphon to a 5 gallon bucket I toss it outside.
IMO... You should not toss this sand down your drain should you suck some up during water change.

When I siphon sand I am just working across the top, not actually siphoning the sand but just what is on top.
Malaysian trumpet snails seem to do a good job cleaning under the sand. But they can proliferate quickly. :smile2:
 
#7 ·
Thinking I won't mention the blue sand to my daughter...this is a good excuse to get rid of 'tacky'!
HA! Love this.

If you're having a lot of fish waste problems, you might also consider removing the pleco. They are very messy fish. Or at least they produce a lot of visible waste: as herbivores, I suppose their waste might be less toxic? Not sure, but they do seem to have a reputation.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top