Best sand for substrate?

[poly-nomial]

I am buying sand because it is attractive, cheap and easy to keep clean. I am planning on putting around 50 lbs over my 40lbs of ecocomplete plant gravel and planting the tank with amazon swords, jungle vals and java moss.

Q's

Stupid question but, will the gravel stay at the bottom and the sand on top?

Which is the best sand that my 2 ac110 filters wont suck up?

should i get 100lbs if i am going planted? I am afraid the tank will burst

 

[Drew_H2o]

I just used white play sand. So far I love it. And yes, it's very easy to keep clean. Don't use a vac though, I use a half inch tube (doesn't pick up as much sand) and just sweep over the sand with it.

 

[Nero1]

I am buying sand because it is attractive, cheap and easy to keep clean. I am planning on putting around 50 lbs over my 40lbs of ecocomplete plant gravel and planting the tank with amazon swords, jungle vals and java moss.

Q's

Stupid question but, will the gravel stay at the bottom and the sand on top?

Which is the best sand that my 2 ac110 filters wont suck up?

should i get 100lbs if i am going planted? I am afraid the tank will burst

Im not 100% certain but I would think over time the sand will sift its way down below your gravel.

 

[Pharaoh]

Im not 100% certain but I would think over time the sand will sift its way down below your gravel.

Correct.


I use pool filter sand bought at the local pool supply store.

 

[Fishman0]

I am buying sand because it is attractive, cheap and easy to keep clean. I am planning on putting around 50 lbs over my 40lbs of ecocomplete plant gravel and planting the tank with amazon swords, jungle vals and java moss.

Q's

Stupid question but, will the gravel stay at the bottom and the sand on top?

Which is the best sand that my 2 ac110 filters wont suck up?

should i get 100lbs if i am going planted? I am afraid the tank will burst

pool filter sand is the cheapest and has larger grains than play sand.

It settles very quickly when stirred up so dont worry about your AC110's, as long as your intakes are around 6" from the sand.

What fish will you be keeping? this will determine whether or not they will dig and bring the gravel up

 

[poly-nomial]

so should i take out some of the ecocomplete. That would be a waste of money though

 

[MonsterMinis]

I'm very happy with my eco-complete set-up. why do you want to put sand on-top of it? I've got 2 bags of eco-complete an 1 bag of laterite in my tank. eventually the laterite will surface but it's been minimal this past year. to be honest if I could go back.. i would have just done the eco-complete and called it a day. I don't have any issues with it at all. and my plants love it. I don't run co2.. and I can barely keep up with my chain swords runners. Unless you have a reason to add to the eco-complete I'de leave it as a stand alone substrate.

 

[andyjs]

Just mix the eco with the sand. That's what I have in my 29 planted. I like the look and the plants seem to like it