well here is a photo of my sand http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9673/sand9ix.jpg
i think the size is just right just wanted to check with you guys its not to sharp is it?


should i cook it i mean boil it so i get ride of all the bad things in it or just leave it like it is and clean it alot?

Well, I was all perpared to suggest that you do not use sand in your goldie tank because as it passed through their gills it is irritating and they will stir it up and make loads of silty clouds, but....That is not sand!

That is fine gravel. THere is only one problem that I would have with using that as a substrate....well, actually two.

The first one is that, while I am assuming that these rocks are too big to go in your goldie's mouth right now, you need to realize that as your fish grow, they will easily put these stones in their mouths. There will be an intermediate stage where the stones are small enough to go in, but too big to come out easily, and you may have some problems at that time. The sharper angles on the stones can make it a bit more difficult to get them back out of the fish's mouth. (You also may never have any difficulties - I have only ever had one fish swallow a stone and have it get stuck - it was a 3/4 inch diameter thing that the silly oranda gobbled. No other fish has done it!)

The other potential problem that I can see with these stones is, as you may know, "sharp" sand and stone are typically used in situations where you wish them to pack down tight and hard - to make a solid underbase for brick or such, etc. They will lock together as they are packed, with all the angles of the stones locking into each other, making a fairly solid surface. This solid surface could make it difficult for you to clean - you will have to make sure you break it up regularly with your gravel syphon to get all the waste that gets trapped inside. A solid base of locked gravel can create pockets of airless waste - resulting in a toxic gas being produced as the waste breaks down.

To sterile your rocks you should have them at a rolling boil for at least 10 minutes ....that will take care of almost everything. For complete sterilization - the formula is 15/15 - fifteen minutes at 15 pounds pressure in a pressure cooker. This is a bit extreme and is only necessary if you are dealing with tuburculosis or some other nasty, hard to kill infectious agent. 10 minutes at a rolling boil is usually sufficiant.

hey ty!

ill probably put on the top some bigg stones here is photo (i love taking photos) http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/545/dsc045747mx.jpg i dunu why but i think this way i can spot popo more easier and the tank will look so cool
so you think i should cook the gravel? and when i clean the tank i could take a bit of the gravel out and cook it

oh when i was cleaning the gravel today ive noticed that no matter how much i clean the gravel the water still gets a bit blury:S this will probably satel down right? or is it potencionaly dangerus for fish? coz this boders me if i have blury watter kinda ugly. but i havent pured in the water so i dont know yet if it will get blury or not. and ive also noticed when i had my old tank with my fish that my tank got this a bit red or brown coler when i aded the root that i bought at fish store and ive let it setle in water for long time befor ading it to tank and ive also boiled it for 10 min but the water was still blury red/brown coler. is this coz the rot is natural and it gives its coler to the tank here is a photo http://img393.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rot6ag.jpg

Well, whoa, here..... are you putting those rocks in as "new" rocks? If so, yes, you can boil and sterilize them. This is particularly important if the rocks have been used in a tank before. That way you can be sure you are not transporting nasties into your tank.

If the rocks are already in your tank, no, you do not want to boil them. They can, and do carry a bit of beneficial bacteria - and, depending on your tank/filter situation - this bit may be very important to your tank's cycle.

The rocks, themselves, should not cause the water to take on a color -all that should happen is, if there is lots of "rock dust" that is on them, the dust will make your tank cloudy until the filter has a chance to filter it all out.

As for the "root", many real roots and wood pieces have a natural substance in them that is called tanin. It will leech out of the root and wood as it soaks in the tank, and colors the water reddish or orangish. It is a harmless substance - if you have been to water swamps and such in the south, you will see water with heavy tanin coloration - it is natural and harmless. But, it is very unsightly in a tank in your house. You can soak this root in water, changing the water daily or weekly for several months to remove the majority of the tanin, or you can boil it, with about .1% salt in the water bath, for about 20 minutes and remove the majority of the tanin.

Remember - a real piece of wood or root in your tank becomes a source of bio-matter/waste that can lower your tank's pH over time. Make sure you check your kH carefully to make sure your buffer can hold its own against that waste.

yay the wood is good for lowering ph:D coz when i had my old tank runing my Ph was a bit high. ill put some salt and cook it:D

ty man your helpful!