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I want to make a substrate with vermiculite and sand. However, I don't find a small amount of sand to buy where I live. At the market I saw this white sand for aquariums. Does anyone know if I can use it to replace it?

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alanahere
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    Usually home improvement stores will carry playground sand or maybe you can just scoop sand from a nearby playground or beach. Not sure what kind of mixture you are looking to make, but I would think you can use it as a substitute as long as the grain size is what you need. It could get expensive to use aquarium sand though – Huangism Aug 13 '20 at 15:31
  • @Huangism I want to make a substrate for succulents. The construction stores in the city where I live only sell large quantities. I don't want to make a lot of substrate, so 1 kg would be enough. Is the beach sand "safe" or should I do some sand treatment before using it? – alanahere Aug 13 '20 at 15:58
  • By safe do you mean clean? you could clean it by baking it or boiling it, i think you can just spread it out and let the sun cleanse it – Huangism Aug 13 '20 at 16:20
  • Yeah! I understood. :D Thank you very much! I will do that! – alanahere Aug 13 '20 at 17:03
  • It's possible that any sand from a saltwater beach could contain excess salt. This will eventually leach out of any mix you make, but could cause problems if your succulents are sensitive to salt.. – Jurp Sep 13 '20 at 01:01

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That is silica sand (quartz) , if you want truckload quantities look up "Ottawa silica sand".Essentially typical beach sand without the few percent of iron oxides that give beach sand the "sand"color. It comes in many grit sizes , that looks pretty small , I would say too small ( packs too dense ) for aquarium plants. A quick look under silica sand shows many supplies for sand filters . Also , industrial sand blast supply will have the traditional brown color sand , usually called "garnet". It has been 20 years since I bought any ,probably $ 5 /50 lb. I did rinse dust out of the brown sand.

blacksmith37
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  • With winter coming up, the hardware stores will soon start selling those long 40lb(?) bags of sand that you toss in your trunk for traction. I'd rinse any sand I got before using it for your purpose. – Wayfaring Stranger Sep 13 '20 at 17:49