To Sand Or Not To Sand? -Substrate.

[Fishflyer]

Turkey baster is good for sucking up poo in smaller (10 gallon and less) and micro tanks. I'm experimenting with a pvc extension on a baster for taller tanks.

Hello, I use ¾ inch tubing attached to a pill bottle with appropriate sized (slightly smaller than tubing) hole in bottom. This hole can be achieved careful drilling or heating a large screw, tap, ect on oven burner and poking through bottom of pill bottle. This works like a regular siphon vaccuum in miniature.

Tubing is cheap enough at hardware store to experiment to the size you need. Works well in small tight places, micro tanks. Good for skimming sand surface. It's a little slow but it works.

 

[Fishflyer]

Sand seems to be less likely to develop hydrogen sulfide pockets than gravel, because the large interstitial spaces between gravel bits allow detritus to fall between below the substrate surface. For me (PFS) keeps detritus on its surface, and is thus easier to vacuum off.
I realize some people don't like to see the detritus, but because I am anal about frequent water changes and vacuuming, I don't notice this. Those pockets and the detritus within, are also nitrate factories, so as my goal for nitrate is no higher than 5ppm, the vacuuming also fits into my water quality goal set.
When I first started using sand back in the 80s, I tried play sand, and found it to be easily stirred up by my cichlids, and in so doing, ruined impellers, and volutes my pumps. This was mostly ended when I started using PFS which is more dense and falls quickly before being pulled into filters.

On a purely aesthetic note, I find the random look of sand mixed with a small amount of pea gravel to give a very natural look. And prefer the neutral substrate look, as I don't want the substrate to in any way, distract from the fish or plants,

I agree gravel does allow waste to fall through the cracks but sand mixed in can stop that somewhat.
I also agree on the appearance, mixed sand and gravel can be attractive.

 

[Fishflyer]

I prefer sand to gravel, but when you are using it in a tank with active fish, like my electric blue haps for example, when they dig in the sand it takes longer for sand to come back down to the bottom of the tank, so then it would get sucked into the filters and stop the impellers. When I moved them into another tank, I went with a fine black gravel, even though it could still probably fit into the filter intake, it comes back down to the bottom of the tank much quicker, and I have had that tank set up with the gravel for a few months and haven't had any issues with the gravel getting into the filter so far.

I am glad to found a good workable sand! Sounds attractive too.
I find that not a problem (clouding)with CaribSea Torpedo Beach Sand. It has heft and won't raise with diggers or strong water column. I bought a small amount to try and am happy with it. Keeps pretty clean, and only rarely have to lightly vaccum surface as company claims.

 

[Fishflyer]

I am glad @CarpCharacin to find a good workable sand! Sounds attractive too. It is National Geographic black sand that doesn't go up your filter
I find that not a problem (clouding)with CaribSea Torpedo Beach Sand. It has heft and won't raise with diggers or strong water column. I bought a small amount to try and am happy with it. Keeps pretty clean, and only rarely have to lightly vaccum surface as company claims.

 

[Fishflyer]

HTTPS://modestfish.com/best-betta-substrate/ author suggests that gravel and sand individually have their good points but also their cons. See under section: sand and gravel. Toward the end of the section the author suggests one of the best substràtes is mixed media substrata. Suggests layering sand, then plant medium (dirt), finally topped with gravel. This is good for plants and fish. Author also suggests An aggragate substrate is good. Mixed gravel, sand and rocks are good. It is a fairly short, easy, sectioned article only about substrates.

 

[Fishflyer]

Another member has ordered Sandtastik and put into his tank this beautiful colored sand. (See his thread, "Best Sand Ever.). Some members had some concerns about it's safety, so I did some investigation.
It is made of Fieldspar stone, resin encapsulated with a nontoxic dye. Resin encapsulating is like those flower or shell paper weights where the flowers ect are encased in clear resin. It is an autclave or other baking process.

Sandtastik Sand has a top safety rating with children and testing and safety seal with the AMCI Arts, Materials, and Creative Institute.

It comes in almost 50 shades and is used indoor/outdoor and is waterproof. It can be cleaned with soap. (We won't be doing that.)

It has not been aquarium tested. I ordered some and will be letting you know my test results. It is not company recommended for fish that mouth their gravel or sand as it has irregular shaped grains.

So it should be fine for fish that don't put the entire grain in their mouth or just sweep the surface like Cories, or pick at the surface of their substrate material like Bettas. Surface and midrange swimmers that are non bottom foragers should be fine. Probably others are OK too. Check to see if your sand is irregular shaped and how many years your fish has been doing fine. I don't think play or pool filter sand was officially tested either until fish
hobbyist tested it in their tanks

Sandtastik runs about $42-45 for 25 lb box, about $32 for 10 lbs. At the maufacturer sandtastikproducts.com. or Amazon.com. For lesser amounts of sand go to amazon.com where the Sandtastik vendor David's Bridal sells 1 lb bags Sandtastik for $4.95. Overwise you will paying $24 for a pound. I will let you know if I find anything cheaper.

Sandtastik is supposed to not cloud and enter your filter, not need initial cleaning, (advise it anyway) and also supposed to be easy maintainance like Torpedo Beach Sand. I will let you know my short and long term test findings of this product.

 

[Ej6hatchie]

I used to be strictly bare bottom for all my tanks but after trying a thin layer of carib sea black sand it's a whole different look. Plus my bare bottom tanks were always super scratched on the bottom hah

I'd say sand is the way to go easier to clean than gravel imo

 

[Fishflyer]

I used to be strictly bare bottom for all my tanks but after trying a thin layer of carib sea black sand it's a whole different look. Plus my bare bottom tanks were always super scratched on the bottom hah

I'd say sand is the way to go easier to clean than gravel imo

. Hello, I like sand too for that reason. And I definitely like CaribSea. I just did another cleaning with Torpedo Beach sand and went deep with it,; there was little waste and the sand allowed itself to be brought up halfway into the vacuum chamber and was not drawn into the tube like some other sands. I was wondering about the CaribSea black sand's texture.

I should receive the Sandtastik colored sand soon. It has heft and lends itself to easy cleaning. Finwin another member swears by it. I guess I already said I will report on this thread my experiences with it and immediately upon receiving if it has heft and a similar texture to CaribSea.

A lot of my tanks are already gravel for a long time. But some of my tanks are sand and half and half. Some mixed and one that is half sand one side, the other side gravel. I might do a conversion, or partial conversion.
A couple posts back l posted the address of an article where the author highlighted simply the advantages and disadvantages of gravel and sand. I do find that gravel hides the detritus more.
Cheers.

 

[FINWIN]

Another member has ordered Sandtastik and put into his tank this beautiful colored sand. (See his thread, "Best Sand Ever.). Some members had some concerns about it's safety, so I did some investigation.
It is made of Fieldspar stone, resin encapsulated with a nontoxic dye. Resin encapsulating is like those flower or shell paper weights where the flowers ect are encased in clear resin. It is an autclave or other baking process.

Sandtastik Sand has a top safety rating with children and testing and safety seal with the AMCI Arts, Materials, and Creative Institute.

It comes in almost 50 shades and is used indoor/outdoor and is waterproof. It can be cleaned with soap. (We won't be doing that.)

It has not been aquarium tested. I ordered some and will be letting you know my test results. It is not company recommended for fish that mouth their gravel or sand as it has irregular shaped grains.

So it should be fine for fish that don't put the entire grain in their mouth or just sweep the surface like Cories, or pick at the surface of their substrate material like Bettas. Surface and midrange swimmers that are non bottom foragers should be fine. Probably others are OK too. Check to see if your sand is irregular shaped and how many years your fish has been doing fine. I don't think play or pool filter sand was officially tested either until fish
hobbyist tested it in their tanks

Sandtastik runs about $42-45 for 25 lb box, about $32 for 10 lbs. At the maufacturer sandtastikproducts.com. or Amazon.com. For lesser amounts of sand go to amazon.com where the Sandtastik vendor David's Bridal sells 1 lb bags Sandtastik for $4.95. Overwise you will paying $24 for a pound. I will let you know if I find anything cheaper.

Sandtastik is supposed to not cloud and enter your filter, not need initial cleaning, (advise it anyway) and also supposed to be easy maintainance like Torpedo Beach Sand. I will let you know my short and long term test findings of this product.

To add to this, the Feldspar is what accounts for the "sparkling" effect of Sandtastik...it's evident in both dry form and underwater. Grains are definitely irregular which is what gives it space for plant root oxygenation...smaller grains compact and create those gas pockets sand lovers fear. Keep in mind this applies only to the floral sand...it has the consistency of big sugar crystals. Sandtastik has a play sand but it is finer grain and for different use...you can even see the difference in the website pictures. My fish root in the sand daily with no ill effects. The only cloudiness I get is from small particles they stir up on the top. I've yet to pull any dirt from the deeper layers with a siphon.

 

[Fishflyer]

I used to be strictly bare bottom for all my tanks but after trying a thin layer of carib sea black sand it's a whole different look. Plus my bare bottom tanks were always super scratched on the bottom hah

I'd say sand is the way to go easier to clean than gravel imo

Hello, Also when I started out this town was quite a bit smaller. There were more limited options, and my mindset was gravel. I thought sand was for saltwater aquariums.
Later when I bought sand for a tank at my lfs, they had a limited variety. I figured ordering from online that freight charges charges would be high, sand being heavy, and the shipping is high, in some cases. But if you hunt around or order several
small orders, the shipping isn't bad or free. But yes I like sand too, several of my tanks have it now.