natural sand?? for a brackish ???

[negruloco]

hey guys... have any of you try to setup a brackish aquarium with natural sand?? from the beach?? well sound a bit cheap but not doing it for that reason, just like to get all the mineral and all the goodies from the natural sand... was thinking to get some sand from the beach (in Australia lol)... i was snorkeling last weekend and around here that sand look very nice... what do u guys think? any recommendations??

[Pufferpunk]

...and all the nasties too--don't do it.

[spoot]

you have to worry about pollutants and any contaminants in the sand, but if it's from good clean source, and not from a busy harbour or a busy beach with lots of people, I don't see why not.

Packaged sand is collected naturally too you know.

[negruloco]

OK i understand that u can get all bad things as well... but what about if u take it from the sea... from the bottom of the beach?? ( i know sounds a bit weird but just want to know how good or bad is)

[Pufferpunk]

By nasties, I meant parasites & such. Not worth the risk, bagged sand is not that expensive.

[manutius]

I would use childrens playpit sand if you really want a sand substrate. Its been cleaned and is free from pollutants, becuase children love to put stuff in their mouths. You can buy it very cheap, I saw it in my local supermarket and remember thinking "now thats cheap" so it must have been

[crazedpuffer]

Its like $7 for 50 pounds I think. (Here anyway)