Black or white sand?

S

Southern Rebel

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Apr 28, 2012
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I need to decide today whether I want my 75 to be black or white sand..background is painted black...using fake plants, stock will be angels, corys, german blue rams, black phantom tetra, and another tetra school undecided...so should I do white or black? We have white pool filter sand locally...but if I do black I need to order it..which is my next question..where do I get it at lol thanks all

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I think its more of a personal preference really. I would take into effect the color of each and the sum of everything else thats going into the tank. My personally preference would be to go with black since it will make the colors of everything else stand out a bit more but thats just me. Lighter sand would make everything brighter but maybe not give the appearance of the stuff in the tank a 'pop'. I was reading somewhere that you can get black blasting sand, which is a little coarser than filter sand, at tractor supply and its supposed to be pretty cheap. 3m used to make some banging quartz sand but I believe that they stopped production on it. Or maybe cichlid sand dont know how fine it is or what its made of and how it would affect the chemistry of the tank but I have seen it at petsmart in black. Hope that gets you started. good luck
 
That sand from tractor supply..is it safe for fish? And its not sharp or anything it is? My cory cats will be on it all the time...

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I honestly couldnt say. I remember reading it on one of the plant tank forums some time ago when I was doin research on the different plant substrates. I ended up with mineralized soil in that tank. It did really well but it was a little labor intensive. You can google it. Its on some forum. Im sure with any sand youll have to wash it a few times. I dont think it would be a problem but then again I would just google the subject to see what other ppl have said about it
 
I just redid a tank that I had white sand in. It looked great - to me, but the fish seemed to hate it. Even my school of sociable neons hid all the time and the corys (the reason I did a sand substrate to begin with) were swimming around in a panic. I think the fish feel more vulnerable or something. This was a well planted tank with driftwood too. I think it kind of washes the colors of the fish out too. I have also done a black sand tank in the past. That sand I got at petsmart, I think, and it turned out to be very sharp and I didn't keep bottom dwellers in there. It also got swirled into the water column very easily and I had yet to learn the HOB filter + lots of sharp bits of sand floating around lesson. Needless to say I have gravel and a different filter in there now. If you are ordering sand, make sure you can feel a sample first, or have the ability to send it back if it won't do.

I will say that the corys really do love digging about in the sand. Just a matter of finding the right type. Sounds like your tank is going to be gorgeous in any case!
 
I believe that most FW fish prefer and are more comfortable with a darker substrate (which, if you think about it, is much more likely to occur in nature). Also, it believe it helps to show off the colors of the plants and fish; white sand tends to wash out the tank too much to my eye. That said, it's very much a personal preference. You could look for tank shots all around AC and see if you lean toward liking one look more than the other.
 
Found 50lb. Bag of pool filter sand locally..for 10.99 will 50lb. Be enough for my 75gal? (I don't want it real deep)

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I hope its white/tan ...I didn't know they sold black pfs? Lol I just called and they said they had pfs...I assume white/tan...gotta go get it wednesday

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