Ralph
02-18-2003, 09:53 PM
Sand is just a range of particle sizes and can include anything from coral particles to man-made substances. Gravel is larger and silt is smaller.
For a discus tank though, it is mainly silica sand that is used as a substrate. It is virtually inert and won't usually affect your water parameters especially with our WCs. Silica actually includes a large group of rock materials, quartz is a type of silica. The color of the sand is dictated by the type of rock that the sand was formed from. Many sands are actually a mixture, sometimes even including precious stones. I like the white sand, I think it looks good, makes the fish look good, and that's what the Amazon river bed has.
The key to aquarium sands is the particle size. Many purchased sands are too small to be practical. The problems with fine sand (such as sizes 16 and 20) are the compaction of the sand leading to anaerobic activity and the vacuuming up of the sand with the mulm. The cleanest I have been able to keep my tanks is with a thin layer (around 1/2") of large particle sands. I can vacuum all the way to the bottom piece of glass without sucking up the sand too.
Others have had success with sand over Flourite, laterite, etc. and with thicker levels. Some also swear by the finer sands. They use a vacuuming technique where they glide the vacuum above the sand, getting the mulm and leaving most of the sand.
Every hardware store has sand (for concrete, playgrounds, etc.). It is usually mixed in particle size but generally very fine and brown. Walmart used to sell white playground sand but I haven't seen it in awhile. Swimming pool supply stores sell white sand for pool filters but also very fine (they formerly used larger grains). Sand blasting supply stores usually have a variety of sand sizes and materials (including crushed safety glass!) though not usually white sand. In all of these places, the prices run around $10 for 50 pounds.
I've had the best luck at LFSs (other areas of the world of course may be different). I've found two types of white, large grained sands (including one coated with epoxy) but they have a bunch of different colors. It runs about $1 per pound though but sometimes they will give discounts for bulk. Don't buy the coral sands though, they will increase water hardness.
The internet I'm sure has various sands at good prices, but shipping would be brutal I imagine.
The biggest complaint I've heard is the difficulty in anchoring plants, sand is light and too mobile to hold down the roots. I get around it by having lightly planted tanks.
Feel free to add any experiences you've had (good or bad) with sand substrates or any questions you have.
For a discus tank though, it is mainly silica sand that is used as a substrate. It is virtually inert and won't usually affect your water parameters especially with our WCs. Silica actually includes a large group of rock materials, quartz is a type of silica. The color of the sand is dictated by the type of rock that the sand was formed from. Many sands are actually a mixture, sometimes even including precious stones. I like the white sand, I think it looks good, makes the fish look good, and that's what the Amazon river bed has.
The key to aquarium sands is the particle size. Many purchased sands are too small to be practical. The problems with fine sand (such as sizes 16 and 20) are the compaction of the sand leading to anaerobic activity and the vacuuming up of the sand with the mulm. The cleanest I have been able to keep my tanks is with a thin layer (around 1/2") of large particle sands. I can vacuum all the way to the bottom piece of glass without sucking up the sand too.
Others have had success with sand over Flourite, laterite, etc. and with thicker levels. Some also swear by the finer sands. They use a vacuuming technique where they glide the vacuum above the sand, getting the mulm and leaving most of the sand.
Every hardware store has sand (for concrete, playgrounds, etc.). It is usually mixed in particle size but generally very fine and brown. Walmart used to sell white playground sand but I haven't seen it in awhile. Swimming pool supply stores sell white sand for pool filters but also very fine (they formerly used larger grains). Sand blasting supply stores usually have a variety of sand sizes and materials (including crushed safety glass!) though not usually white sand. In all of these places, the prices run around $10 for 50 pounds.
I've had the best luck at LFSs (other areas of the world of course may be different). I've found two types of white, large grained sands (including one coated with epoxy) but they have a bunch of different colors. It runs about $1 per pound though but sometimes they will give discounts for bulk. Don't buy the coral sands though, they will increase water hardness.
The internet I'm sure has various sands at good prices, but shipping would be brutal I imagine.
The biggest complaint I've heard is the difficulty in anchoring plants, sand is light and too mobile to hold down the roots. I get around it by having lightly planted tanks.
Feel free to add any experiences you've had (good or bad) with sand substrates or any questions you have.