I hate sand

[Vallisneria]

Well, I a couple months i switched out my gravel for some sand in my 15g. I now regret this decision. I used playsand and its WAY too fine. ITs already ruined one of my filter motors, its hard to clean and it ends up covering my plants leaves and rocks(i think the fish are spitting it on there). SO i want to get rid of it and put something easier to deal with in there.

Before i had natural gravel(5mm) and liked how easy it was to keep clean and the way it looked. But since i was going to be putting shellies(N.caudopunctatus) in the tank i thought i'd better change it for sand.

So i'm looking for ideas. I'd like something a bit larger in grain size then sand but still smaller then gravel(i want the fish to still be able to dig). Does anyone know of something like this, maybe in the 2-3mm range. Since its only a 15g and i dont' need much i'd be willing to try some of the substrates that are availiable at the LFS. Does anyone use those?Like the african cichlid mixes and such?

I'm just tired of how much work the Playsand is being, I should have gone with pool filter or sandblasting sand to begin with.

[nevchewy]

I'm not liking Sandblasting sand too much now as well... It is a pain to clean, as i have boiled a bunch and then tried to rinse it out... and still there is the oily substance at the top of the water... and the water will not rinse clean. I worked with about 5 pounds of it for over an hour and gave up.

I know its expensive to buy the black moon sand from BA... but i think i'm going to give it a try.

IMO and IME

nev

[Vallisneria]

Well i do have some black sand(i think its Ehiem) that i used to use when i had a 10g shelldweller tank. But i had similar problems with it and cleaning. I could never suck up the poop well enough and with the sand being black debris/poop was very noticable. I did really like the look of it and the fish looked amazing against the black.

I think i want something that can be cleaned easy with the gravel vac. I could never get all the crap by swirling the vac above the sand. So i guess i'm looking for a fine gravel.

[nevchewy]

If you want Val...

you can have the rest of my sandblaster sand... i think there is probably 45lbs left...

let me know if you want it to give it a try...

nev

[rahim101]

I use crushed coral / crushed coral sand in all my tank. It's a slight off white color and is very easy to clean. It also buffers the water maintaining a very high PH which is excellent for my african cichlids.

When it does get into the motor, it simply get broken down by the impeller.

I swear by the stuff and have had excellent results as well as I really like the look.

You get the look of san with out the problems of sand!!!!

[RD.]

This is exactly why I tell people to go with pool filter sand, but do they listen .... noooooooooo. :chair:

I've used gravel, aragonite, and even crushed coral (which I wouldn't refer to as sand) and IMO when keeping africans nothing beats pool filter sand, for ease of cleaning, or for allowing the natural behaviour of sand sifting fish.

[Vallisneria]

Thanks Nev, but i think i would still have the same problems with sandblasting sand.

Rahim- do you happen to have any pics of this crushed coral? You said it was off white. I'm afraid that might wash out my fish as they are already whitish with yellow fins. Also you said its easy to clean. Do you clean it like regular gravel? OR the way you have to clean sand? Where did you buy this stuff?

Does anyone use that Aroganite(sp?) stuff they sell at the LFS.

[RD.]

Val - unless it's actually sand, you need to use the regular gravel vacuum. Crushed coral is similar to aragonite, but just like aragonite it comes in numerous grain sizes. Aragonite can actually be as fine as grains of sugar, or as large as small pebbles. In the past I used Caribsea Pink Flamingo (1-2 mm in size)

http://www.marinedepot.com/a_cr_ss_caribsea.asp?ast=&key=

I still needed to use a gravel vac, and it was a SOB to initially rinse clean.

[rahim101]

First Pic of new 90 Gallon tank set-up:

Close up of Crushed Coral Substrate:

[Sammy]

Howdy all,

I think playsand sucks (too dirty and very lightweight) However The Sil sand is a great alternaitive for tanks. I have used all sorts from .5mm and up to 1.5mm of Sil products with no problems what so ever. I had posted pictures of 2 types of sil that I have available here in edmonton. I would Highly recommend a pre-filter on your intakes when dealling with sand. Also you need to have a decent current in the tanks to get the poop to work its way around. WHat I do is before placing the sand in the tank I run it for the day with filters all on and sprinkle some flake food and watch how it settles, then make adjustments as needed.

I have never had to boil any of the sil I get, just alittle rinsing (comes pre washed) and its dirt cheap.

FYI. Mostly all the African tanks at BA's have crush coral for substrate.

Sammy

[Vallisneria]

Sammy- Can you tell me a bit more about these Sil sand you have. Where do you buy it from? Is it sandblasting sand? I might be interested in some of the larger grain size.

[HOSStile]

So there is where my 90 gal. went

[rahim101]

Thats where one of the 90's went.

I am heading over there right now, I'll let you if he has any more in stock!!!!

[Majestic_Aquariums]

I have used playsand before, and I would just siphon the stuff right up. If the large tube is long enough, it doesn't suck up and out of the tank. (like 20"-the reg. pythons are way shorter)

I have 15 gal. of DARK grey/black slate chips I brought back from B.C. Although they look sharp, they aren't really. May not be that good for sand sifters, but I was thinking trout then. Price was right, and I gave it all a really good rinse in the mountain stream as I collected, so it won't need as much working over. I don't know if it would be that good for plecos or cichlids that dig and spit gravel though.

Maybe try out the pool filter sand-it won't cost that much, and seems to be proven

[Sammy]

Hi Degrassi,

I posted some more info in this thread.

http://s6.invisionfree.com/AlbertaAquatica...?showtopic=3800

Sammy