after several nights of research and writing threads/questions about substrate I finally made a choice. i went to a masonry building supply company and inquired about sand. this guy had about 10 different types i explained to him in detail what i was using it for and to my surprise he was an avid fish keeper. He's never heard of mfk so i gave him the info and hopefully he'll be signing up soon. anyway i explained i had gravel then switched to lfs sand which i loved the look but it was waaaay too bright (bleached white sand) waaay too expensive and waaaay too fine it did a number on my filters. He suggested a large grain #1 sand in natural color that was fine enough for rays and eartheaters but heavy enough NOT to kill my filters impellers. He called his wife who took some pics and texted it to his phone. i was very impressed at the 400 gallon front,sev,rays,geos and silver aro tank and the substrate looked great, and at $9 for a 80lb bag I WAS SOLD. So after having a barebottom tank for the last 3 months i bought a bag and rushed home. i rinsed and surprisingly the sand only needed minimal rinsing as he said. i finally put it in and it looks beautiful though my tank isnt 400 gallons i only have a 180 my stock is the same as his with the exception of the rays and the aro and i also have dats and green terrors. i took a break from doing a water change but when i'm all done i will take a few pics to find out what you guys think. i bought only one bag so only 3/4 of the tank is covered but i will get another bag on monday (closed on sundays
). and as an added bonus my 5 foot long manzita driftwood finally sank on its own. 
). and as an added bonus my 5 foot long manzita driftwood finally sank on its own. 