Sand as substrate for oscars?

[missmary]

I have a 180 gallon that has been bare-bottom since it was set up about a year ago. It's stocked with two oscars and six parrotfish. I've been wanting to add substrate for aesthetics as well as some live plants (these oscars have never been destructive of plastic plants in their previous tanks ::knocks on wood:.

I've seen several beautiful tanks with sand as substrate and was wondering if this would be a good choice for my own. If so, what kind of sand would be best suited for the tank?

Also, the filtration consists of three HOB Bio-Wheel 350's (easiest for my parents to maintain while I'm away at school), one Magnum 350 (set up for mechanical only), and a Fluval 404 for additional biomedia; would the addition of sand to the aquarium potentially damage these filters/how could I help prevent it?

 

[killerfish]

Sand works great for those fish and just about any other fish

You can use play sand or pavers sand any thing that doesn't have silica in it also pool filter sand works we'll all of these can be bought at Home Depot for a good price

You will need to rinse the sand very we'll be for placeing it in the tank or it will cloud the water

All you have to do to make sure your filters are safe is make sure the intake is high up enough so it won't suck up any sand

 

[missmary]

Will pool filter sand work with live plants? Someone suggested eco-complete, but from what I've read about it, it contains iron and calcium. Would those things pose any risk to my fish?

 

[Kobe]

Sand always looks best in my opinion....should look great in your tank.

 

[thatcichlidguy]

Sand works great for those fish and just about any other fish

You can use play sand or pavers sand any thing that doesn't have silica in it also pool filter sand works we'll all of these can be bought at Home Depot for a good price

You will need to rinse the sand very we'll be for placeing it in the tank or it will cloud the water

All you have to do to make sure your filters are safe is make sure the intake is high up enough so it won't suck up any sand

Actually all natural sand is just silica with traces of other elements, what you want to avoid is artifcially colored or otherwise treated sand ( unless it's manufactured specially for AQUARIUM USE). Pool filter sand is fine though I find it a little too uniform in grain size and kinda gives the tank an engineered look. regular play sand or paver sand look much better IMO and the irregular grain size looks a lot more natural. Takes longer to clean but I think it looks way better.