Can I use beach or dune sand for my reef aquarium?

[reefchile]

Hi everybody,
I am planning to build a reef tank 180x80x76 (71x31x30) and put in 5 cm sand bed which mean around 72 kg of sand.
Unfortunately, there is not sand "œproducer" in Chile and import 72 kg of sand will be really expensive.
So, I am thinking that we have a lot of beach and dune sand in Chile. The question is, can I take beach or dune sand and clean it to use in my reef aquarium? Maybe boil and after wash with soap, for example, in order to have a clean sand? There is a cleaning protocol? Do you have any other alternative?
Thanks for your help.
Best regards,

 

[flooddc]

I don't see any problem using it. Sand is sand! I seen people use play sand in their tank. Just give it a good clean and should be good. I have used crushed shells/sand from the beach with no issue. Maybe someone else experienced with it can chime in.

 

[TempestGod]

I don't see any problem using it. Sand is sand! I seen people use play sand in their tank. Just give it a good clean and should be good. I have used crushed shells/sand from the beach with no issue. Maybe someone else experienced with it can chime in.

I have used it in one of my freshwater aquariums before. It seems to be doing just fine. I imagine all you need to do is clean it really well.

 

[reenact12321]

any sand, it's good to flush it with water to get the really really small particles out, just keeps it from turning your tank into a cloud for 2 weeks and then again every time you vacuum.

 

[firefly73]

watch the gain size as beach sand tends to be very fine and compacts ....alot.
keep sand sifters or shallow substrates

beware of where you collect from. alot of sands get oils and other pollution forms on them some like oil are very hard to wash off. avoid built up areas. watch local laws on collection. many sands have a algae film just under the surface layer. sometimes these grow very quickly when in a better enviro like a aquarium. either go high on the beach (dry) or underwater. dont go between high and low water . thats where the most crap is. otherwise all good

 

[dbigfoot111]

i would buy use sand, not sure about beach sand.

 

[Capt.Nemo]

May not want to use soap, just heavy rinsing

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[username in use]

Ive used it in the past (Northeast U.S.). It tended to not look quite right but was fine. It was not aragonite so it didn't assist with any buffering, but if that's not needed it should be fine.

Just be mindful of where you are getting it from. Both with regards to local laws (It may be illegal to take), and in terms of possible funky runoff that it may be soaked in.

 

[reefchile]

I don't see any problem using it. Sand is sand! I seen people use play sand in their tank. Just give it a good clean and should be good. I have used crushed shells/sand from the beach with no issue. Maybe someone else experienced with it can chime in.

Thanks

 

[reefchile]

I have used it in one of my freshwater aquariums before. It seems to be doing just fine. I imagine all you need to do is clean it really well.

thanks

 

[reefchile]

any sand, it's good to flush it with water to get the really really small particles out, just keeps it from turning your tank into a cloud for 2 weeks and then again every time you vacuum.

Thanks

 

[reefchile]

watch the gain size as beach sand tends to be very fine and compacts ....alot.
keep sand sifters or shallow substrates

beware of where you collect from. alot of sands get oils and other pollution forms on them some like oil are very hard to wash off. avoid built up areas. watch local laws on collection. many sands have a algae film just under the surface layer. sometimes these grow very quickly when in a better enviro like a aquarium. either go high on the beach (dry) or underwater. dont go between high and low water . thats where the most crap is. otherwise all good

thanks

 

[reefchile]

Ive used it in the past (Northeast U.S.). It tended to not look quite right but was fine. It was not aragonite so it didn't assist with any buffering, but if that's not needed it should be fine.

Just be mindful of where you are getting it from. Both with regards to local laws (It may be illegal to take), and in terms of possible funky runoff that it may be soaked in.

Thanks

 

[SFish]

May not want to use soap, just heavy rinsing

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

+1 on no soap

 

[Greybeard]

Most public beaches in the USA truck sand in... and there are generally local laws against removing it.

While I understand trying to save money, the percentage of the cost of keeping a reef tank consumed by purchasing sand is minuscule. Why bother?

 

[CStrickland]

Since your country has no distributor for sand, and it's expensive to import, maybe consider a "barebottom" tank. They can be beautiful, you don't need sand for a reef tank.

If you do collect it don't use soap to clean it. Just rinse it very well. Also, the sand that I collected from a nearby beach had some black sand mixed in. I like how it looks but it's worth noting that it is magnetic so it sticks to my glass cleaner and can cause scratches.

 

[sirclintler]

I have read that beach sand is high in silacates (is this not correct?) Also it will be very dirty since the waves crashing on the sand act as natures protein skimmer, I would tend to think you would need to go 5 miles or so out to get your sand.

 

[username in use]

Most public beaches in the USA truck sand in...

Id like to see a citation for that statement. None of our local beaches truck in sand unless for very specific circumstances, like when they had to remove a dune to repair an outflow pipe, and then it was just to replenish the amount lost in moving it twice.

 

[username in use]

I have read that beach sand is high in silacates (is this not correct?) Also it will be very dirty since the waves crashing on the sand act as natures protein skimmer, I would tend to think you would need to go 5 miles or so out to get your sand.

Most beaches are silica sand. However, for it to actually dissolve in your tank the PH would be so low everything would be dead anyway.

As for cleanliness, it's no dirtier than the sand in your tank after a month of fish poop and fish food getting into it. Rinse it well before use.

 

[reefchile]

Most public beaches in the USA truck sand in... and there are generally local laws against removing it.

While I understand trying to save money, the percentage of the cost of keeping a reef tank consumed by purchasing sand is minuscule. Why bother?

The sand cost is not the problem. The problem is bring it To Chile.