Can you put a fresh water fish in a tank with salt water sand?

Question

Can you put a fresh water fish in a tank with salt water sand?

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

it will kill em..

there are only a few fish  like salmonm and eels..they can graduallyu transition..

fresh water fish to salt they would lose body weight and slowly die.

If you want to learn more about why , look up the words

"diffusion" and "osmosis".

Answer 3

It depends on what you mean by "salt water sand". My guess is that you are referring to the type of substrate sold for marine aquariums usually referred to as aragonite. If so, the answer to your question is "it depends on what type of fish you want to keep".

Aragonite is a calcium carbonate based substance. It is the same stuff coral reefs are made of essentially. The reason it is used in marine aquaria is that the calcium carbonate in the "sand" acts as a pH buffer for the water in a salt water tank. The stuff is slightly soluble producing calcium ions and carbonate ions. The carbonate ions combine with stray Hydrogen ions (which are what makes water acidic) and produces Bicarbonate ions. In essence, the stuff "sucks up" hydrogen ions preventing the water from becoming too acidic. And the calcium released increases the "hardness" of the water. So there is a very simplified version of the chemistry involved in answering your question.

So what happens if you use this stuff in a fresh water system? The same chemistry will make your water hard and somewhat alkaline. These are excellent conditions for African Cichlids and for many of the common livebearer species such as guppies, swordtails, mollies etc. If you are looking to raise tetras or other fish that prefer more acidic soft water, then aragonite is a lousy choice and a more inert substrate is a much better choice. (Most fish commonly sold in "fish stores" prefer softer acidic water...always ask when buying and make sure you choose fish appropriate to the type of water in your tank)

If, though, by "salt water sand" you mean the stuff you get off the beaches in most of North America, then you are talking about a silicate substance. This is inert and will not effect your water chemistry AS LONG AS you wash it throughly to get rid of any residual salt residue. Personally, I don't like silicate sand as a substrate. In fresh water systems I prefer to have a well planted system. There are much better substrates out there for plants. But, if you live near a beach and can get the stuff for free legally, why not. Just wash the heck out of it and pour it in.

Answer 4

In theory yes, "salt water sand" is just sand.. it's made of silica, and doesn't have any bearing on the water being salt water or not.  Big freshwater lakes have sand too, same idea.

If the sand was previously in salt water though, you'd want to really really clean it so as not to unbalance the water in your tank.

Also I'm not sure how easy sand is to keep clean in a fishtank, being small particle sized and easily disturbed.  (ie hard to vaccum out p**p and old food!)

Answer 5

Probably not. The salt in the sand is what makes salt water, salt water. Fresh water fish are exposed to sand but it's usually fresh water sand like from springs not ocean type sand. Like sand from cave walls accept for sand in estuaries which is usually near an inlet which is the supplier of much of the water to rivers connected to the ocean. Your local pet store owner should be able to recommend the best way to keep your fish alive. Also I was at Petco yesterday and noticed they have kits now to create a salt water environment. Most fresh water tanks don't have sand in them just rocks. I wouldn't chance it if the fish was expensive.

Answer 6

I think is all right. Try asking your vet or a petstore manager.