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Thread: Sand Questions

  1. #1
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Question Sand Questions

    I mistakenly bought play sand, thinking there would be no pebbles or anything in it. However I was wrong. I currently am looking at different sands. So far this is the one I am most attracted to. I just want to know if it is safe for frogs or freshwater fish.

    CaribSea Instant Aquarium Moonlight Sand Gravel at PETCO

    This is another option I was looking at, but it seems it is more for salt water aquariums. Unless the sand does not truly matter with freshwater vs marine.

    http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...AvailInUS%2FNo
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

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    100+ Post Member mpmistr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    I use this, it's expensive but the sand is so *very* fine that there is no risk to your frogs. Keep in mind though that it gets kicked up easily and may clog filters. I lost a Marineland Penguin filter to this sand. Be careful not to stir it up too often. I use Sunset Gold in my other tank, its a bit larger grain-wise but still rather small and frog safe as well, does not kick up nearly as much.

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  5. #3
    maxQ
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    I use superior quartz filtration media

  6. #4
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by mpmistr View Post
    I use this, it's expensive but the sand is so *very* fine that there is no risk to your frogs. Keep in mind though that it gets kicked up easily and may clog filters. I lost a Marineland Penguin filter to this sand. Be careful not to stir it up too often. I use Sunset Gold in my other tank, its a bit larger grain-wise but still rather small and frog safe as well, does not kick up nearly as much.
    I wanted to use it for the benefits listed on the website. My filter is a HOB, but it has an adjustable intake with a ventilated "wand" type thing attached. I don't plan on making the sand very thick, especially near the filter. Maybe have some sort of sand-gradient where there is more on one side and less on the other? Also about the filter clogging, as long as I don't run it during set up should it be fairly safe? Or are some filters better than others at not getting clogged by the fine sand. Or maybe something like taking fresh-bought panty hose and putting it over the wand so it would catch the sand.

    In the sand they are in now they do not kick it up too much, so perhaps it may not be something to worry about? Or should I see about sunset gold?

    Also how do you wash your sand. Most websites say to use regular tap water, but in the past I only used water treated with Prime. Any benefits or lack of benefits from this?

    Was this the sand you were talking about?

    CaribSea Instant Aquarium Sunset Gold Gravel at PETCO

    because it says "gravel" then says that it is fine grained?

    Right now both products are equally priced online.
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  7. #5
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by maxQ View Post
    I use superior quartz filtration media
    As substrate for the bottom of your tank? Although new, I've never heard of anything like this.
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  8. #6
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    The sunset gold has a size of "20 lbs.
    Grain size: 0.1 mm - 0.4 mm " Is this too big for the frogs or will that not be an impaction worry
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  9. #7
    100+ Post Member mpmistr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by LeClownBlanc View Post
    The sunset gold has a size of "20 lbs.
    Grain size: 0.1 mm - 0.4 mm " Is this too big for the frogs or will that not be an impaction worry
    It is perfectly safe, it's only a few mm larger than caribea moonlight sand. They pose no risk to frogs, unless they somehow ate a ton of it.. which I don't see how that is possible.

    As far as filters, if you value your filter, I would suggest sunset gold. If you do not fuss about in your tank that much and don't kick the sand up often, either would work fine.

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  11. #8
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by mpmistr View Post
    It is perfectly safe, it's only a few mm larger than caribea moonlight sand. They pose no risk to frogs, unless they somehow ate a ton of it.. which I don't see how that is possible.

    As far as filters, if you value your filter, I would suggest sunset gold. If you do not fuss about in your tank that much and don't kick the sand up often, either would work fine.
    I also figured the coarser grained sand would hold in live plants better. Placing an order now!
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  12. #9
    Tongue Flicker
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    I like those black fluorite sand. Makes albino ACFs stand out better and adding a floating plant filtered, soft light adds a dramatic effect as well. They're kinda pricey where i'm at though

  13. #10
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Default

    Black fluorite would make for nice aesthetics...perhaps when I need an upgrade I could get some...

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  14. #11
    100+ Post Member mpmistr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by LeClownBlanc View Post
    Black fluorite would make for nice aesthetics...perhaps when I need an upgrade I could get some...

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
    Black fluorite and black sand in general (like tahitian moon) is a very sharp, jagged sand. I would not recommend it with bottom dwellers with very soft skin, like an ACF.

    Do not wager it would pass through their digestive tract if swallowed very well either, you'll want a smoother sand.

    I also wanted black sand for my tanks but after doing a lot of research (and wasting money) I came to realize that black sand is sharp silica sand (glass) or coal slag (black diamond).

  15. #12
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Eugh! Thanks for the warning! Wouldn't want to hurt my babies.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  16. #13
    Tongue Flicker
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    I had my ACFs on black volcanic sand with no problems at all. It's just it doesn't seem to hold plant life very well as my amazon swords keeps on having rotten roots lol

  17. #14
    100+ Post Member mpmistr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Tongue Flicker View Post
    I had my ACFs on black volcanic sand with no problems at all. It's just it doesn't seem to hold plant life very well as my amazon swords keeps on having rotten roots lol
    Not sure why your amazon swords are rotting, really the sand itself would be inert so if you are using root feeding plants like swords or crypts you'll want to use root tabs (or dirt capped with sand) to keep these plants.

    As far as black volcanic sand, I am not sure what brand you are using. In the US the main choices for black sand are Tahitian Moon (Caribsea), Black Diamond (coal slag), and I believe PetCo carries a black sand as well but I found it very similar to Tahition Moon, very jagged/sharp sand.

    Your sand may be different, I know there is black sand in Hawaii and I've never really tested it to see how well it works in an aquarium (also it is illegal to take off the beach!).

  18. #15
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by mpmistr View Post
    Not sure why your amazon swords are rotting, really the sand itself would be inert so if you are using root feeding plants like swords or crypts you'll want to use root tabs (or dirt capped with sand) to keep these plants.

    As far as black volcanic sand, I am not sure what brand you are using. In the US the main choices for black sand are Tahitian Moon (Caribsea), Black Diamond (coal slag), and I believe PetCo carries a black sand as well but I found it very similar to Tahition Moon, very jagged/sharp sand.

    Your sand may be different, I know there is black sand in Hawaii and I've never really tested it to see how well it works in an aquarium (also it is illegal to take off the beach!).
    Are api root tabs plus iron safe for frogs?

    Sent from my SPH-L520 using Tapatalk
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  19. #16
    100+ Post Member mpmistr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by LeClownBlanc View Post
    Are api root tabs plus iron safe for frogs?

    Sent from my SPH-L520 using Tapatalk
    I emailed SeaChem about their root tabs and they said they were perfectly safe for aquatic frogs. I would not go overboard with them. My guess as to why they are 100% safe is that the fertilizers stay buried in the substrate and never get into the water column itself. That being said I would try to not stir up the sand too much once they are in place. They do go inert after several months anyways. I've broke down and redid my tank several times with root tabs in place and nothing bad has ever happened to my clawed frogs as a result of that.

    I don't recall which plants you stated you wanted to grow? Keep in mind that a lot of aquatic plants have very ineffective root systems and draw nutrients from the water column, so really you may not even need root tabs. I have not replaced mine in almost a year and my tank still gets crazy amounts of growth. I really only used them for my crypt. wendtii but I moved them to another tank and planted water sprite/vals instead.. it's a jungle in there.

    So short answer would be yeah, they're safe. If you keep up on ~25% partial water changes weekly as we all should, everything will be peachy.

  20. #17
    Tongue Flicker
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by mpmistr View Post
    Not sure why your amazon swords are rotting, really the sand itself would be inert so if you are using root feeding plants like swords or crypts you'll want to use root tabs (or dirt capped with sand) to keep these plants.

    As far as black volcanic sand, I am not sure what brand you are using. In the US the main choices for black sand are Tahitian Moon (Caribsea), Black Diamond (coal slag), and I believe PetCo carries a black sand as well but I found it very similar to Tahition Moon, very jagged/sharp sand.

    Your sand may be different, I know there is black sand in Hawaii and I've never really tested it to see how well it works in an aquarium (also it is illegal to take off the beach!).
    Well they're kinda naturally harvested around the smallest volcano in the world, Mt.Taal lol.. i took like one sack of sand and washed it with heavily chlorinated running tap for 2 days then started conditioning it haha

  21. #18
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by mpmistr View Post
    I emailed SeaChem about their root tabs and they said they were perfectly safe for aquatic frogs. I would not go overboard with them. My guess as to why they are 100% safe is that the fertilizers stay buried in the substrate and never get into the water column itself. That being said I would try to not stir up the sand too much once they are in place. They do go inert after several months anyways. I've broke down and redid my tank several times with root tabs in place and nothing bad has ever happened to my clawed frogs as a result of that.

    I don't recall which plants you stated you wanted to grow? Keep in mind that a lot of aquatic plants have very ineffective root systems and draw nutrients from the water column, so really you may not even need root tabs. I have not replaced mine in almost a year and my tank still gets crazy amounts of growth. I really only used them for my crypt. wendtii but I moved them to another tank and planted water sprite/vals instead.. it's a jungle in there.

    So short answer would be yeah, they're safe. If you keep up on ~25% partial water changes weekly as we all should, everything will be peachy.
    Api is owned by seachem?
    sorry, I was asking about API root tabs plus iron,
    I'm not sure if the frogs will tolerate the iron

    Sent from my SPH-L520 using Tapatalk
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  22. #19
    Member LeClownBlanc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by mpmistr View Post
    I emailed SeaChem about their root tabs and they said they were perfectly safe for aquatic frogs. I would not go overboard with them. My guess as to why they are 100% safe is that the fertilizers stay buried in the substrate and never get into the water column itself. That being said I would try to not stir up the sand too much once they are in place. They do go inert after several months anyways. I've broke down and redid my tank several times with root tabs in place and nothing bad has ever happened to my clawed frogs as a result of that.

    I don't recall which plants you stated you wanted to grow? Keep in mind that a lot of aquatic plants have very ineffective root systems and draw nutrients from the water column, so really you may not even need root tabs. I have not replaced mine in almost a year and my tank still gets crazy amounts of growth. I really only used them for my crypt. wendtii but I moved them to another tank and planted water sprite/vals instead.. it's a jungle in there.

    So short answer would be yeah, they're safe. If you keep up on ~25% partial water changes weekly as we all should, everything will be peachy.
    Also I was hoping to grow anubias and some other low light plants

    Sent from my SPH-L520 using Tapatalk
    ~children~
    Ксениа, a beautiful yet mischievous calico cat.
    Cecil & Carlos, two active and growing little froglettes

  23. #20
    100+ Post Member mpmistr's Avatar
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    Default Re: Sand Questions

    Anubias does not require substrate at all. Low light plants? Vallisneria and Water Sprite grows insanely fast and but both have a rather ineffective root system. Both will root into your substrate and take hold, but they will pull nutrients from the water column. You could also look into Java Fern, like Anubias, it can be attached to driftwood, no substrate or fertilization necessary. Froggy poop will sustain all.

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