BTW - ewurm, I wouldn't suggest using sand from your local river. The reason for this, is because even if you think you have cleaned it really well, there is only so much your naked eye can see. Rivers, lakes, and some inlets to oceans can host a number of unwanted bacteria, fungus, and parasites. And most of these have reproductive cycles where the sand is a breeding ground. Another thing that is also a problem, is that in these bodies of water, mass amounts of human pollution is introduced. This can be in the form of industrial run off, agricultural drainage, and yes, even human feces -- eeewww--. Even if these toxic pollutants have since been "flushed" downstream so to speak, copious amounts of chemicals settle into the substrate, or are ingested by fish from smaller organisms in direct contact to this, of which the larger fish eat. Once the larger fish goes "potty" shall we say, it is once again introduced into the water, and will likely settle into the substrate. You can rinse to your hearts content, but most likely, you won't even remove more than 50 or so % of most of the pollutants. And this doesn't even include nasty critters that cling on for dear life until a host is present. I don't know where this river is located that you are refering to, so it's hard to say what could be in that particular body of water. My advice, is no, don't use it. It may be the free way to go, but I doubt it would be the easy way, considering what you may face after introduction to your tank.
--EMI
--EMI
