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River sand - already "seasoned" in the aquarium

Cindy

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I bought a pack of river sand recently thinking that it will suit my CP needs. Then I read in some of the posts that river sand is a no-no.

But a search on the Internet showed some growers using river sand.

I'm confused.
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i dunno about all that. I read how some commercial growers instruct their buyers to use fertilizers on their VFTs. But ive learned that this is bad advise. There was some guy, i was looking at his webpage, that says he uses something like 2 parts peat, 2 parts sand and 2 parts perlite (thats not accurate). Anyways, i think river sand, just like beach sand, has alota minerals in it that could build up and harm your plants. But i dunno for sure. I'd just stick with peat and spangum moss if i were you.
 
Cindy,
River sand itself is usually not the problem.  It's the dissolved lime and other mineral salts that may be contaminating it, that causes problems.  Not sure what you mean by "seasoned", but if there were fish in the aquarium with the river sand, I would hesitate to use it with out thoroughly washing it to remove any ammonia by-products associated with fish in an aquarium, as they would act as a fertilizer.
If your sand has been 'washed' it may be OK.

To check for lime contamination just do the vinegar test.

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edited @ 12:30, 10-13-03
 
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