Play sand looks more natural to me, but pfs seems to be the winner these days with most. I'd go tan as white would probably cause a grip of glare.
Black or white sand?
- Thread starter Southern Rebel
- Start date
Yes, substrate color is a matter of personal preference, and we all have our different views about which looks better with the plant & fish colors - many 'black' users feel that fish & plant coloration stands out more and that white makes the colors look 'washed out'. I feel completely the opposite - white really pronounces fish & plant colors, whereas black tends to make the fish adopt darker coloration than their natural shades, in compatability with their darker surroundings.
As for sands, 'play' sands are generally grittier and dustier, require a lot of rinsing, and are not dense enough not to free-float into the water column when disturbed, have a tendency to get into filter intakes and clog up impeller assemblies, and will easily get siphoned up when vacuuming.
A good grade of PFS will have none of those negative attributes, and will be easy to maintain & keep clean.
It's also a toss-up, again personal preference, as to whether tan colored sand looks more 'natural' than white or black. (btw- I've never seen or heard of black PFS, but perhaps it is available somewhere.)
That's my .02 for what it's worth.
Some of you may care to have a peek at my low-tech planted discus tank, using white quartz-based silica PFS - and judge whether or not you feel it's too bright, not natural-looking, and washes out fish & plant colors:
http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/Sept2011
As for sands, 'play' sands are generally grittier and dustier, require a lot of rinsing, and are not dense enough not to free-float into the water column when disturbed, have a tendency to get into filter intakes and clog up impeller assemblies, and will easily get siphoned up when vacuuming.
A good grade of PFS will have none of those negative attributes, and will be easy to maintain & keep clean.
It's also a toss-up, again personal preference, as to whether tan colored sand looks more 'natural' than white or black. (btw- I've never seen or heard of black PFS, but perhaps it is available somewhere.)
That's my .02 for what it's worth.
Some of you may care to have a peek at my low-tech planted discus tank, using white quartz-based silica PFS - and judge whether or not you feel it's too bright, not natural-looking, and washes out fish & plant colors:
http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/discuspaul/Sept2011
I think a lot of it depends on the fish you'll keep & the money you want to spend. I would only keep discus on white/tan PFS but really like cherry shrimp on black Eco/black Flourite. PFS shows all the poo & plant detritus but black can make some fish go dark trying to blend in. In lower light, whitish can help reflect the illumination but sometimes black (substrate +/or background) makes all the colors pop!
For my 75g it took a bag + a half of PFS @ ~ $10/50 lb or 6 bags of Eco Complete...@~$19/bag. Pool sand is easy to vac, Flourite black sand... not so much, but Eco...much easier than Flourite sand.
There really are no perfect answers to the substrate question except play sand was awful IME (compacts + dirty), small gravel also works ok but not fab.
For my 75g it took a bag + a half of PFS @ ~ $10/50 lb or 6 bags of Eco Complete...@~$19/bag. Pool sand is easy to vac, Flourite black sand... not so much, but Eco...much easier than Flourite sand.
There really are no perfect answers to the substrate question except play sand was awful IME (compacts + dirty), small gravel also works ok but not fab.
I just saw a really cool 40 breeder on another thread.... Now I don't know which one I like the best!!
I used PFS in my tank, it looks nice and the fish seem to like it just fine, but..... you see every bit of shrimp/fish/critter poop. When/if I upgrade the tank, I'll be using black sand.
In my 75g I have pfs and a small natural gravel, the back of the tank is painted black, bought it that way.
I recently set up a 40b with black background and black eco-complete and black sand I bought at petco. I have live plants and I love it and the fish from my 10g that got transferred in there love it. The pymy cory's finally aren't washed out looking and my R. Espei's are nicely colored again. I think if I had to do my 75g over I would go with a darker substate, maybe not black again but definately dark.
I recently set up a 40b with black background and black eco-complete and black sand I bought at petco. I have live plants and I love it and the fish from my 10g that got transferred in there love it. The pymy cory's finally aren't washed out looking and my R. Espei's are nicely colored again. I think if I had to do my 75g over I would go with a darker substate, maybe not black again but definately dark.
