Is this sand safe for aquariums?

[fishy_mcfish]

I bought some sand from lowes and was wondering if its fish friendly before i put it in my tank....its says it may contain crystalline silica in it. the back says quickrete on it...says its an all purpose sand...can be mixed with potting soil etc....

[Jeff]

I wouldn't use it. I have seen a couple tanks with silica based sand in them and they look terrible in my opinion. Silica based sand also has no buffering capabilities.

[fishy_mcfish]

its going in a fresh water setup and hopefully soon it will be pretty much covered in live plants anyways...... so im not to worried about apperance just want to make sure its fish friendly

[neoalchemist74]

It also packs to tightly. for any bio filtration, traps poison gasses and will cause continual diatoms for the life of the tank.

[fishy_mcfish]

ok so what about play sand?

[astroke0fgenius]

play sand looks really bad, and light isn't as bright with play sand

DONT SKIMP ON THE SAND!! just wait for someone to sell cheap Live sand

[MedRed]

He said FW tank not SW. Yes it will work; however, regular sand is terrible for planting in. It doesn't hold any nutrients, plants float away really easy, it takes a lot of washing to keep it from clouding, and if it compacts, plants have a hard time getting roots through it.

If you're going for a low tech (non high light/no pressurized co2 injection tank) I'd recommend caribsea eco complete.