# DIY substrate?



## Sanctum38 (Oct 2, 2011)

So a friend of mine (doesnt know anything about aquariums) brought up an idea, making your own substrate.

For example, what he was thinking, go down to a beach and sift the sand to get the thicker grains, and collect enough to say fill the bottom of a tank.

Would this be a bad idea? or?


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

technically you are not allowed to remove sand from beaches. however there are many ways to get cheap substrates.

Play sand
Pool filter sand
Traction sand
pea gravel
Black Beauty (for sandblasting, made from coal slag)
Lead slag (as with black beauty, controversial, many on planted tank succesfully use it)

With the landscaping stuff, you can look up the brand name, see where their source is and check the PH of the water sources to see if you'll have some buffering. Also with landscaping you can mix various grades of peagravel, traction sand and sand to give a more textured bottom. For a large tank you are looking at a fraction of the cost.

Vinegar lets you know if there is limestone in the rocks/sand (yay for mcdonalds packets) if it foams then dont buy it


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Sanctum38 said:


> So a friend of mine (doesnt know anything about aquariums) brought up an idea, making your own substrate.
> 
> For example, what he was thinking, go down to a beach and sift the sand to get the thicker grains, and collect enough to say fill the bottom of a tank.
> 
> Would this be a bad idea? or?


Baaaaaad idea  45 lbs of filter sand for $15 - not worth it. Lie on the beach and enjoy the breeze 

And Neven is right, you are mining without a permit :lol:


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## Sanctum38 (Oct 2, 2011)

Oh, well this is good to know then!  Yeah my LFS doesnt carry any type of sands, or clays... etc. nothing other than plain sized gravel substrate, in acrylic colors, or natural stones.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

try hardware stores, pool supplies, etc. Dirt cheap when you remove the term aquarium from the equation


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## time4mercy (Apr 21, 2010)

neven said:


> try hardware stores, pool supplies, etc. *Dirt cheap *when you remove the term aquarium from the equation


I see what you did there! :lol:


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## mcrocker (May 29, 2010)

From other comments I have heard in the past it sounds like the color of sand can be variable, but I'm pretty pleased with the sandblasting sand I got from lordco. It's light colored, kind of an off-white color, and is very cheap.


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## teija (Sep 30, 2010)

I used regular play sand in a 5 gallon I set up a couple of years ago and it was ok.... had to rinse it a LOT (which is kind of difficult with sand, as it mixes in with the water and goes down the train. Just use a deep bucket with not too much sand, and don't agitate too much.


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## AlexisAlexis (Sep 7, 2012)

neven said:


> technically you are not allowed to remove sand from beaches. however there are many ways to get cheap substrates.
> 
> Play sand
> Pool filter sand
> ...


I'm totally agree with you.You'r 100% good here that technically you are not allowed to remove sand from beaches.And you can mix various grades of peagravel, traction sand and sand to give a more textured bottom.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

canadian tire crayola playsand, navy blue purple green and pink, if you want some colour


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## AcidFear (Aug 19, 2012)

macframalama said:


> canadian tire crayola playsand, navy blue purple green and pink, if you want some colour


The crayola play sand is good stuff i used it on both my 33g and 90g and couldnt be happier dont even really have to rinse it and its cheap 9.99 for a bag of it


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## aquafunlover (Jul 8, 2012)

I use Pea Gravel. Filled the trunk of my car one year for like $30.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I've been told peet, non fertilized potting soil, then peagravel works nicely for planted tanks. I haven't tried it yet tho. I will do a write up when I convert my 20gal after the newer ones have established.


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## bcorchidguy (Jan 14, 2011)

Pea gravel from the local hardware store is great but tends to be a bit large, but I've used it and the fish didn't seem to mind it. For planted tanks there are some great articles about DIY substrate, play sand, is good but it doens't allow water to circulate so you can end up with anoxic spots under the sand if you have it deep. Taking sand or rock from the beach is risky because you never know what industry has contributed to the area in the way of polution. 

Douglas


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## ctclee (May 3, 2010)

Pea gravel from the local plant nursery

It's all I've ever used in all my tanks









6.99 for so many tanks I can't even count !!! Or I think it was -2$ if you bagged it yourself. 
I did my 75 gallon and have a bunch left in the bag in the backyard.


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## Transposon (Sep 19, 2012)

My tank has a peat/ potting soil substrate. Decent plant growth, but humic acids tans water.


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