Is the iron in sand safe?

[Todd135]

On almost every care sheet for hermit crabs it says metal is bad for them and I'm guessing that includes iron, if this is right what do you do about play sand that has a whole bunch of black sand in it? almost all beaches and sands you get has black (iron) sand in it. This concerns me because the sand from where purple pinchers come from are white sand beaches and I don't think there is any iron in that sand. I have a bag of quikrete hardscapes play sand and it has a lot of black sand in it. when I washed it it looks like oil came up to the surface too and the water was really cloudy. I was thinking aragonite sand might be better. has anyone used aragonite or knows anything about it for hermit crabs?
I read a care sheet on Dr. fosters that said aragonite was a safe substrate.

[kieagcarm]

On almost every care sheet for hermit crabs it says metal is bad for them and I'm guessing that includes iron, if this is right what do you do about play sand that has a whole bunch of black sand in it? almost all beaches and sands you get has black (iron) sand in it. This concerns me because the sand from where purple pinchers come from are white sand beaches and I don't think there is any iron in that sand. I have a bag of quikrete hardscapes play sand and it has a lot of black sand in it. when I washed it it looks like oil came up to the surface too and the water was really cloudy. I was thinking aragonite sand might be better. has anyone used aragonite or knows anything about it for hermit crabs?
I read a care sheet on Dr. fosters that said aragonite was a safe substrate.

I use quikrete play sand, and it's white, has no black sand. Maybe you got a bad bag? I get mine from home depot in the building materials section, not the garden center

Sent from my C5215 using Tapatalk

[Rawrgeous]

I've used unwashed quikcrete playsand with no ill effects. I'm not sure about the iron theory, and it may be possible, however the bags I've had have been pretty much white. If you were concerned if they were iron or not, a magnet would let you know. The problem with aragonite is there are live organisms in the sand that will die and rot when not used in a cycled fishtank, and the deaths can lead to a bacteria bloom in the sub, which can kill molting crabs. I think there have been cases where it was used, but I'm not sure on how to do so successfully.

[PinchersAndShells]

I used a mix of aragonite sand and EE for at least half a year. I did notice that it stuck to the crabs more, and it was also a little tricky to keep moist. A downside I did notice towards the end of using it, is that the sand itself started to mold on top. I use Quikrete now, and IMO it's a lot better than aragonite sand.

[Brian_T]

Usually when they say metal, they are talking about copper, which is very bad for invertebrates, or other heavy metals.

Iron oxide is literally everywhere in the natural environment, I don't think it will be a problem.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk