Sand question.

[landon531]

I have heard talk about the differences and preferences for sand. I have even heard of collecting sand yourself. What are everyone's thoughts on collecting sand yourself for use in a tank.

 

[Tahoe61]

Better to go with an Aragonite that you know is the right grain and clean of any contaminants.

 

[tyler1503]

I just collected beach sand yesterday for my 120. I used beach sand in my 24 and didn't have any issues I could relate to the sand. The key is washing it more than you think is necessary and using an aquarium net to sieve the sand out, and leave any bits of seaweed or whatever in the net to throw away. When you think you've washed it enough, your only half way there.
Aragonite, as stated above, is far easier though :)
Edit: another thing to consider is flow. Most beach sand is sugar fine or smaller (atleast around my area, I duno about other parts of the world). This means you can't have crazy flow ripping around the bottom as your sand will go EVERYWHERE!

 

[gpdno]

I use plain old sand that I get from the beach. Bags of sand seem amazingly overpriced when I can just go down the street and get it for free. I wash it well until the water runs clear and put it in the tank. Never an issue.

 

[landon531]

I will be in Daytona beach soon and after hearing the guys talking about this I thought what betterway to relate to your tank more . I understand the need to wash.

 

[Pete polyp]

One thing to consider is the sand on beaches is normally silica based compared to aragonite we use in reef tanks.