Sand substrate
- Thread starter jkennedy
- Start date
Use play sand !
Really cheap . . . and as long as you clean it very VERY well before putting it in your tank its great .
Cheap to buy and looks great in the tank .
Really cheap . . . and as long as you clean it very VERY well before putting it in your tank its great .
Cheap to buy and looks great in the tank .
I used leveling sand for outdoor patios from home depot. Its very cheap so its not like if you siphon some off that you'll be putting a dent in your wallet replacing it. here is the best close up pic I have of the sand.
Plants also really enjoy it.
Plants also really enjoy it.
I currently have pool filter sand that I picked up 10$ for a 50# bag. I have about 2-2.5 inches of sand which changes daily thanks to my fish. I have a african chiclid tank and they seem to love sifting through the sand. Everyday there is a new pile built up and a hole somewhere in the tank haha. I have noticed everyone of my fish at times go down suck up sand and then spit it out in a different area. I think PFS is really easy to gravel vac. I do occasonally suck up a little bit of sand but it stays in the bucket when I dump out the old water. Then when I add new water to the bucket I make sure to swish it around so all the sand ends up back in the tank. I had gravel on my old tank and well it was easy to clean PFS looks better and is more natural. Plus I dont think my fish would be able to dig and sift through the gravel as easy. Also it is very easy to clean as most of the junk is lighter and gets sucked up very easy.
Here is a pic of the sand in my tank.
Here is a pic of the sand in my tank.
I second the above advice. If I accidentally do get sand up the siphon tube a quick hard pinch on the rubber hose will stop flow and sand will fall back out.
You can either use sand that has a larger grain size, or if you have your heart set on a fine grain sand you have 1 of 2 options. You can reclain the sand from the bucket you vacuum into or you can keep a few extra bags on hand and just replace whatever little bit gets sucked out.
really if your careful and watching you wont suck any sand out. I dont even use a syphon I just use 1/2 tube maybe smaller not sure to clean out my tank. It sucks off all the crap and lets the sand sit on the bottom.
theres some good advice here... i've never seen a pic of a tank with pool filter sand but it looks good... i also like the home depot patio sand for a larger grain... i think that looks really good too... i prefer a sand that has varying grain sizes for a more natural look cuz in the wild nothing is gonna weather evenly and produce uniform grain sizes... and with mixed grain sizes it doesnt siphon out well either so it stays in the tank
puffcrusader696;2857203; said:
The leveling sand is nice because its grain size varies greatly from very fine sand like play sand to PFS and larger. Very natural look IMO.
