So I currently have black Petco sand in my ray tank and it looks nice with my black hybrid and with my hystrix but my marble that was bright and gorgeous got really dark and doesn't look like much more than a motoro. I'm debating g on getting some caribe sea substrate and its a toss up between rio grande and sunset gold. I like the redish color from Rio grande but my main concern is that it's more of a gravel than a sand. I know it's supposed to be "soft" but will the rays be able to get under it like they can with sand?
Choosing a new substrate
- Thread starter reddead38
- Start date
Get the torpedo beach from Carib sea. In my experience it's the best substrate out there for Rays. I only use that
The sunset is finer grain than the torpedo beach. Best solution is to set up another tank for the marble with the torpedo beach
I use fine gravel that I collected from a local river several years ago. It has about the same colors as the Rio Grande, but slightly smaller grain size. My rays do occasionally throw some of the gravel on themselves.
I use fine gravel that I collected from a local river several years ago. It has about the same colors as the Rio Grande, but slightly smaller grain size. My rays do occasionally throw some of the gravel on themselves.Do you do anything special to treat the sand you collect?The sunset is finer grain than the torpedo beach. Best solution is to set up another tank for the marble with the torpedo beach
Lots of rinsing. I scooped it up in the river in an aquarium net and swooshed it around in the water to get some of the fines out. Then put small amounts ( a few pounds) in a bowl and rinsed numerous times with tap water. Dried it, ran it through a 2mm sieve to get the larger pieces out, short bleach bath, followed by more rinsing to remove the bleach. One final dry and then into the tank. Lot of work, but the sand was free.