Natural beach sand

[inetjnky]

I'm in Ocean City, Maryland this week. I was laying on the beach at Assateague island yesterday and looking at the beach sand where the water was hitting it. The wet sand is more brown then white but is pretty fine.

Was wondering if anyone has tried using sand like this and if so what are some of the challenges? Wondering how the browner color may look in a tank.

Yes this is a new tank build.

 

[abecker]

As far as using sand from the beach i'm not sure, but I think it would give an interesting color to it. I think it would be cool in a smaller tank but it may be too much brown in a larger tank.

 

[inetjnky]

I'm starting a 29 bio cube. I have pink Fiji already for a larger tank build and was going to use that and then I was thinking of just scooping up about 20 or 30lbs of wet sand before I leave later this week into a Home Depot bucket.

 

[jedi82knight]

Best to leave it there. It is illegal to remove sand from most beaches.

 

[inetjnky]

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[acolotto]

Pretty sure no one is gonna say anything to you about grabbing a bucket of sand. Now if you went out there with a bulldozer and started collecting mass amounts of sand, yes that is illegal lol. If they do just quickly flip the bucket and start building a castle! lol But one or two 5 gallon buckets no one will stop you, think of all the kids that probably do this (just to play with, not even for an aquarium).

On the other side seems like a really cool idea, but id be nervous on how dirty the sand is and what type of baddies that could be in it. I assume though a nice rinse though would solve that issue.

 

[Reefrookie220]

Tried it, sand from ocean city md even. Had an algae explosion.

 

[inetjnky]

Reefrookie how did it look under your lights initially? Did you clean it before putting it in your tank?

 

[Reefrookie220]

I put it in a panty hose and rinsed the hell out of it! It looked really good actually. More natural. But I fought algae for over a year after adding this sand to a bare bottom 2yr old system.

I don't normally give away this trade secret but for the brownish color check Aussie gold live sand from nature's ocean.

It'll save you lots of heart ache

 

[Paul B]

You can not use beach sand from Maryland as it is much to fine. It is the same here on Long Island and I have tried it many times in small tanks. It developes hydrogen sulfide in a few weeks. You can use it from Florida, but not Ocean City.

 

[inetjnky]

Thanks to everyone who replied... I'll leave it on the beach

 

[inetjnky]

Paul that explains the rotten egg smell here at the campground I'm staying in where the saltwater marshes are.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Pretty sure no one is gonna say anything to you about grabbing a bucket of sand. Now if you went out there with a bulldozer and started collecting mass amounts of sand, yes that is illegal lol. If they do just quickly flip the bucket and start building a castle! lol But one or two 5 gallon buckets no one will stop you, think of all the kids that probably do this (just to play with, not even for an aquarium).
.

Our beach in Rockport Massachusetts has a sign specifically saying that taking sand or rocks is illegal (we have great granite cobbles). Tourist towns take their shorelines seriously.

That said, beach sand is fine to use if it is from an area that is clean.

 

[Paul B]

You can use it if you keep it shallow. If you make it much deeper than an inch or so, It will look like this and maybe even grow these muscles. I took this 3 days ago and if you lift those muscles, it stinks like sulpher, so maybe it will reduce your nitrate. Or kill all your fish. This is New York mud. Some girls put it on their face to reduce wrinkles. There is a name for such girls. That word is "single".

 

[inetjnky]

Hahahaha

 

[justaDutchguy]

I would think beach sand has a completely different composition as sand a bit deeper in the ocean, even like half a mile in or so. Would it not make sense taking sand from a part of the ocean where a reef could or does florish?
Just a guess.

 

[Paul B]

That makes no difference. It is true our northern beaches have silica sand and tropical beaches have coral sand but the main problem is the fineness.

 

[redfishbluefish]

The preferred sand for out tanks is carbonate based (Aragonite). I'm pretty sure the sands on Maryland's beaches (and all beaches North) are silicate based (or should I say non-carbonate). For this reason alone, I would not use these sands.

 

[justaDutchguy]

So closer to beach sand would not have more "bad stuff" then deeper in ocean sand?

 

[Paul B]

I don't think it matters at all. Every 12 hours high tide washes the sand and it stays submerged for much of that time. Just like I collect water from right near the beach as opposed to far out even though I own a boat. In decades I have never had a problem with it. I would not collect beach sand all the way up near the road a mile from the beach. But near the sea is fine. IMO of course