Sand?

iturnrocks · Post by **iturnrocks** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:15 am

I'm realizing that my dirt bottom tank is not so good for Triops if I ever
want to see them. Also they keep it stirred up so well I cant even
see the fairy shrimp half the time.

I was thinking of some nice white sand from the pet store. Im only
doing a 2 gallon tank so it wont require much. Here are some of the
ingredient listings of various sands. Some are for fish, some for
reptiles, and some for hermit crabs. Which of these do you think are best for branchiopods, or inverts in general? I assume whats good from regular shrimp would be the same.

Reptile sand-
Calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, iron oxide, beta carotene,
ascorbic acid (vitamin C), calcium pantothenate, vitamin B12, biotin,
vitamin B6 (pyridoxine HCl), niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B1 (thiamine
HCl), folic acid, dicalcium phosphate.

Marine Fish sand-
Aragonite: zinc sulphate, calcium chloride, manganese chloride, cobalt
chloride, copper sulphate, sodium molybdate, strontium chloride,
nickel chloride, potassium bromide, sodium silicate

Hermit Crab sand-
Calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate.

I figure Ill hatch in a small container and then swap to this one.
Ive been doing that for a while now with my current set up. Ill just
have to wait till everything dies.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:35 am

I use white play sand for sandboxes from Home Depot. It is quartz based and does not add hardness to the water. They can dig it easily and it looks nice. A 25# bag costs about $2.50 so is cheaper by far than a small bag of any sort of specialty sand.

To start a new batch you can pull out some sand and dry it out, then rehydrate after a week or so.

iturnrocks · Post by **iturnrocks** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:55 am

badflash wrote: To start a new batch you can pull out some sand and dry it out, then rehydrate after a week or so.

It is my understanding that branchiopods will have difficulty hatching in established water because there are too many micro-predators that will eat them as nauplii. Thats why I hatch in a new container with inert water and then add them to existing water after a few days so they can get some size on them.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:41 pm

It was never an issue for me as long as I used the detritus tea bag. I used old sand and R/O water.