Sand-Pros & Cons

[trenac]

I'm getting ready to set up a 55G tank and like to try a different substrate besides gravel. What type or brand would you recommend? Will be growing mostly Amazon swords, Anubias & tiger lotus. How easy is sand to syphon and/or how do you clean it? I have heard of a brand you can buy from Home Depot, does anyone know the name of it? Any advice will be helpful!

[ginnie5]

I love sand instead of gravel. You don't vacuum it you just kinda sweep over it about 1/2" away of so. I use pool filter sand in my tanks. It's not as white as play sand. there is another sand at HD that will work but you need to check and make sure it won't change your water parameters. I found an open bag and grabbed a pinch that had spilled out when I was checking.

[ninoboy]

Yes, I prefer sand also. But since I'm just real amateur, I use the specialized one, the Onyx sand from Seachem. I heard it contains nutrients, iron etc not like regular play sand. The plants seem to love it. I have more success using sand also to create the lawn effect. Also they hold plants down. The bad thing I heard is getting compacted overtime. I don't have that problem yet. Maybe the tanks aren't that old yet.

[secretagent]

I just used some sand with peat underneath and it seems to do fine I got the kiddy sand that you find at home depot and it doesnt change the paremiters. (excuse spelling)


Steven

[Urkevitz]

I am also a big fan of sand. I get great rootgrowth from all of my plants. I don't buy into the compaction theory, it's not like we are walking on the stuff.

[Mini4x]

Persoanlly I hate my sand..

Always dirty, no nutrients..

[Ibn]

I use some home depot sand that came in a bag labeled play sand (probably the same stuff that roadkil uses) and layered it over a bed of Canadian peat and fluorite (had enough of this laying around). The plants seem to like it quite a bit from the amount of growth that I got out of them and I have since switched my other tank over also (was running 100% fluorite before).

[luketrot]

I setup a Cichlid tank (not planted) with sand, its been a nightmare.. My cicklids keep playing in it causing a dust ball that has never dissipated. The tank has been setup for 4 days now with the new substrate and I have yet to see it remotely clear. Today was worse then yesterday I think???? I'm using HD Playsand.....

[wellbiz]

I keep a sand flourite mix in my tank and love it... I dont have any issues with it getting dirty, etc. Planting is easy, and I have no compaction issues. It is just HD play sand....


Jason

[GDominy]

Some sands are just riddled with silt... this is what causes a lot of cloudiness people see with sand. If you buy a heavier sand, like silica it doesnt cloud at all. The sand itself is rather heavy to so it falls back to the bottom instantly.