sandy bottom

[portabuddy]

this stuff looks like mine but with a bit more black.... it was pre packaged stuff for milawies... I love it, the third pone is a zoom of my 10 with a ghost shrimp in the shot.

 

[toehead11183]

i added a bag of tahitian black moon for every two bags of the cichlid mix. like yours but 1/3 TBM

 

[Horiyoshi III]

I use what they call Silica Sand. Its is around 1/8 of inch in diameter. I used a deep black which made the colors in my African tank and Tropheus tank just blaze.
Definitely move your intakes up 3 to 4 inches above gravel bed.

Well,silica is sand,main ingredient.........but i've had your problems with ruining filters,go with either tahitian black moon sand,it's heavier and stays down,or pool filter white quartz

 

[portabuddy]

I get this stuff in my xp3 exery now and then, and trust me when i say that you must wash it realy well befor use... i dumped it straight up into the water and i couldnt see the goldgish that where cycling the tank for days. 4 years later when i vaccume the tank bottom it now stopped comming up white. before if i sturred it up the tank would get cloudy fast.