Sand or texture painted bottom of adult wilds?

[adapted]

I am a day or two away from moving nine adult wilds to a 120 gallon diplay tank. I will be siphoning the bottom daily and probably changing half the water every other day. No other fish, no plants and only some suspended driftwood.


My question is the value of a thin sand substrate for the fish versus the ease of cleaning and debris detection of a bare bottom for me.


At the moment, there is a half inch of pool filter sand in their 75 gallon tank and they seem to enjoying blowing in it and looking for food. The new tank has a sandy texture painted foamboard under the glass...

I want to do the option that would contribute the most to the health and well being of the fish. So Cleaner tank vs more natural environment. Input from anyone with experience with wilds in both BB and sand would be appreciated.

[Second Hand Pat]

Most wilds keepers I have asked have recommended a sand bottom for wilds for some of the reasons you have already observed.

[adapted]

Thanks for the input Pat. I'm truly 50-50 on this, so I will go with what most wild discus keepers have found success with. At worst I'll spend 20 minutes more a week making sure the substrate is clean. If for some reason I can't keep nitrates down below 10, I'll siphon it out and see how they adjust to looking down at glass.

[Second Hand Pat]

Just put a very thin layer, not even a half inch.