Best Black Sand for ACF 55 Gallon Set Up??

mpmistr

mpmistr

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May 21, 2012
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Hi there! I am setting up a 55 gallon aquarium to eventually move my african clawed frogs into once they get a bit older.. I decided to use black sand as substrate but I want to make sure I get the right brand and type.. I plan to lay down slate rock over much of the surface area (to make a clean area for the frogs to eat and not gulp sand) and I'd like to place some anubias, java fern, and maybe some other plants in the gaps between the rocks.

Can anyone recommend a product that would be safe for clawed frogs and be adequate to place plants in?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!!
 
Black beauty is probably the cheapest, but I wouldnt recommend it with the clawed frogs because the edges can be a little sharp which may scratch their soft skin. Also, depending on your filtration rate, etc, you have to be careful that the sand is not so fine that the ACF's movements blow it up into the filter.

Lastly, I would strongly, strongly recommend getting pre-rinsed sand. I went the cheap route for my black sand and bought the stuff you had to rinse and I spent a good 15 hours rinsing it and ruined a white T-shirt because of the black dust. I will NEVER do that again. Totally worth the extra money. I would probably still rinse it off before stocking though, just to make sure.
 
vwill279 said:
Black beauty is probably the cheapest, but I wouldnt recommend it with the clawed frogs because the edges can be a little sharp which may scratch their soft skin. Also, depending on your filtration rate, etc, you have to be careful that the sand is not so fine that the ACF's movements blow it up into the filter.

Lastly, I would strongly, strongly recommend getting pre-rinsed sand. I went the cheap route for my black sand and bought the stuff you had to rinse and I spent a good 15 hours rinsing it and ruined a white T-shirt because of the black dust. I will NEVER do that again. Totally worth the extra money. I would probably still rinse it off before stocking though, just to make sure.
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Could you recommend a brand that is smooth and easy on frogs? I honestly have had not much luck with my Google Fu on finding an appropriate brand..

Maybe black silica? Can plants survive in that?

Would this be an OK purchase? http://www.petco.com/product/111998/Eco-Complete-Planted-Black-Aquarium-Substrate.aspx
 
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Caribsea tahitian moon is the one I would choose if I had to buy black sand again. pre-rinsed, soft, and fine, and very pretty.

I dont think Eco Complete is actually sand, but I've never used it so I'm not positive. It is very good for plant growth though

With any inert sand (tahitian moon, silica, etc), you will probably have to use root tab ferts to get good plant growth. Sand does not hold nutrients very well.

Another thing with sand is that it traps anaerobic pockets which can release nasty stuff. You have to keep the sand stirred so that oxygen gets down into the sand. You can either do this by turning the filter off during water changes and manually stirring it up, or by using malaysian trumpet snails, which burrow in sand and will stir it up for you. I've never used those snails with frogs though and they have pointy shells, so you'd probably have to get more info on whether or not that would increase injury risk with scraping their skin.
 
I've been curious if snails were practical, I would assume a clawed frog would eat a snail at some point. My frogs currently co-exist with an apple snail but he is quite a bit larger and the frogs have a lot of growing to do.. I would also assume that in the wild a clawed frog would eat snails (right?...), while it would be cool to have snails and have the frogs as some kind of population control that is probably too good to be true..

I would assume that anaerobic pockets would be less likely to form as long as you didn't use too much sand.. would using any kind of substrate UNDER the sand prevent this? Again I do plan to lay down some rather large slate rocks over much of the bottom of my tank as well, or would this be a bad idea?
 
If they do eat snails I see no reason not to introduce them to the tank as food for the frogs. If they reproduce quick enough and the frogs aren't gluttons you're set =)

I don't know of those are a healthy staple for and all that though so I'll someone else chime in on whether or not it is practical.
 
vwill279 said:
MTS have very hard, pointy shells. I wouldnt want them to be eaten by a frog. They may perforate their digestive system.
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Good point (literally). I am very leery of putting anything in the same aquarium as my frogs, especially something that may choke or internally harm them.

I think I will try the Tahitian Moon sand if I can find some around here.. and keep the depth under 2 inches. Most of the bottom of the tank will be slate rock, so it should be OK. I wonder if that will be deep enough for plants to survive though?
 
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