Sand for Substrate

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dougefresh

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Mar 8, 2006
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Delaware
Is sand a bad substrate? i really like the look of it and i have two empty tanks in the garage that i plan on setting up in my room this week.......i wanna use sand for substrate but i've heard its bad because it can mess up your filter and stuff..........is sand as bad as it sounds or is it an ok substrate?
 
i think if you put a sponge or pre-filter on the inlet of the filter it would be better but their is always no guarantee it will not suck the sand and mess up the impeller. i was also debating on it but i went with gravel just because i hate sucking the sand out of the tank when i do some siphoning for the fish waste. but i heard a lot of people like it. i can't say it's bad since i really haven't had it only gravel. :)
 
I've heard of people bleaching sand to make it whiter ... has anyone ever tried this?
 
I've used play sand and Pool filter sand in my tanks. Pool filter sand is the finest substrate going, it is fairly coase and very soft and you can still vaccuum it fairly well.....
 
Howdy,

I recommend to do an MFK search on "sand" and you'll be surprised how many threads pop up. To make a long story short: Sand is a great substrate. I have never had problems with sand in my filters, since Eheim places the impeller on top of the canister - and any sand that possibly enters the filter sediments on the bottom.

:thumbsup:

HarleyK
 
never have had sand get caught up in my filter so bad that it couldnt function. just be sure to clean ur sand really well before u put it in ur tank and u should be fine, heres a really good link: http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=56310&hl=sand
gl post some pics :thumbsup:

hey thanks that is a great set of directions ....really informative...........o and Harley my bad i shoulda searched in the first place it was late when i posted though i wasn't even thinking:screwy: .............
 
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