Anyone know?

[machine77]

i know there's tons of threads about sand and what not on SD, but what im looking for is lite colored sand, not so much on the tan side. more on the white/grey side.. what im gettin at is, is this "pool filter sand" on the tan side? and now, silica, is this on the "grey/white" side... does anyone have any experience and could help me find what im looking for.. also, is sand hard to clean, i heard you have to stir it to get any dirt or air pockets out and vacum just the top.. this is for my red belly pirahna tank and not my discus! thanks so much :)
nolan

[Larry Bugg]

The pool filter sand I use looks tan in the bag but as soon as it hits the water it is white.

[tcyiu]

i know there's tons of threads about sand and what not on SD, but what im looking for is lite colored sand, not so much on the tan side. more on the white/grey side.. what im gettin at is, is this "pool filter sand" on the tan side? and now, silica, is this on the "grey/white" side... does anyone have any experience and could help me find what im looking for.. also, is sand hard to clean, i heard you have to stir it to get any dirt or air pockets out and vacum just the top.. this is for my red belly pirahna tank and not my discus! thanks so much :)
nolan

Here's what I have discovered, pool filter, play sand, sandblasting sand etc. will be a different colour in different parts of the world. Makes sense since the packagers will source the sand locally instead of trucking it across vast distances. In my area, I cannot find a cheap source of white sand. Period. All the usual suspects carry sand that is a variant of tan. You may be lucky and find white or light grey sand in your area. My point is that there is no guarantee. It all depends on the geology of your area.

I ended up buying a manmade sand from 3M. It is pure white. The alternative would be to buy CaribSea's white sand. Make sure it's not the one made from crushed coral since that will be bad for your Amazonian freshwater fish.

As for keeping and maintaining sand, just don't have too deep of a substrate. The concern is the build up of anaerobic activity because of lack of light and oxygen.

Tim