Sand Subastrate

[ROB281]

What are the plusses and minuses to a sand substrate?, I'm beginning a 29gal tall aquarium, in which I plan to put some angels in, and a few cardinals, I know the fish don't really care, but I like the look of sand more than gravel so if there's no major hangups to it, that will probably be my choice, also is the required thickness for the sand the same as it would be if I were going for gravel?

[OrionGirl]

Less sand is better--an inch is plenty. It is easy to clean, just siphon above the surface instead of digging into the gravel. The wastes tend to stay on the surface, so it's easy to clean. I'd avoid the aragonite (tropical) sands, as they will increase the pH and hardness of your water. Silica play sand works well.

[ROB281]

so silica is fine?, I was under the impression that silica was something to stay away from.


thanks for your input, I just want to make sure the sand is safe before I go and get some, about how many punds do you think I would need

[OrionGirl]

Silica is fine. There are a lot of myths that it will cause all sorts of problems, but they are not true. Silica is inert unless the pH drops below about 3.0--at which point it's so acidic that it will cause more problems than anything else. ;)

I have 3 tanks with silica sand in them right now, and haven'thad algae blooms in them, or any other issues.

[ROB281]

thanks for clearin that up for me, another question I have is, Are there different coarse types for sand substrates?, if so which is best?

again thanks for the information OrionGirl:)

[OrionGirl]

Check with a landscaping company. They may offer something--but I'm not sure. Most people I know who use black sand have paid a bunch for it--either in shipping charges to buy off the net, or in the LFS prices.

[ROB281]

I know the Petsmart down the road from me has some black sand, in a pretty good sized bag too

[ROB281]

Originally posted by ROB281
thanks for clearin that up for me, another question I have is, Are there different coarse types for sand substrates?, if so which is best?

again thanks for the information OrionGirl:)

bump

[OrionGirl]

There are lots of different kinds of sand. For FW, planted tanks, I prefer a medium grain. The smaller grain sizes tend to pack down more easily, and plants don't like that. The larger grain sizes often have sharp edges, and while this doesn't cause problems for most fish, it's a possibility that burrowing, tiny scaled fish, or fish that spend most of their time on/in the substrate may get scratched up. Once more--just a 'maybe', but one that's easily avoided.

[ROB281]

I went to my LFS today, and saw that they had a bag of rock, but the rock was broken up into little pebbles that were about the same size as the nerd candies, I didn't know if it was aragonite or not, is this something that would be labeled on the bag?

[OrionGirl]

Usually, yes--aragonite or crushed coral will be on the bag somewhere. Both are normally white/off-white.

[ROB281]

oh cool, I just learned something:D

this bag was all black rock, would 25lbs be enough for a 29 gallon tank?

[pinballqueen]

Go to an industrial supply and check into sandblasting sand. Ask for a sample of it, and take it home and soak it for a few days, testing to see how the ph and hardness fare...

Sandblasting sand is the only non-aquarium-sand I can think of that is black and doesn't come from a volcanic island :)

[ROB281]

thanks for the tip

[OrionGirl]

Errr...I'm bad with that. Here's a calculator: http://www.garf.org/calculators/SandBedCalculator.asp

It's for sand, but it will give you an idea. For larger grain sizes, you'll need a bit less, for small grain sizes, a bit more.

[ROB281]

thanks!

according to that I should be good with one bag

[125gJoe]

This is just my opinion on substrates, but I would only use SeaChem's substrates. They are great for planted tanks and look good too. The Onyx sand is more a fine gravel than a sand, and that helps a lot in keeping the substrate from compacting - which is a bad thing....

http://www.seachem.com

[Watcher74]

This doesn't really answer anybody's questions, but I remember walking on a black sand beach in Hawaii about 15 years ago. Beautiful stuff.

I heard that a few years later a big storm came along and took all the black sand with it. I was sorry to hear about that.