Sand for discus aquarium

[Cjbear087]

So I plan on buying this sand for my discus aquarium: https://www.swelluk.com/swell-fiji-s...sand-fine-20kg and I want to make the tank look as realistic to their natural habitat as possible. Is this remotely similar to the sand they have there? If not what should I be looking for? Thanks

[Second Hand Pat]

Many here use an inert white sand like pool filter sand. It is mostly likely a better value also. Not sure what type of sand is part of their natural habitat.
Pat

[jwcarlson]

Doesn't show the sand, but would guess there's also a lot of mud. As far as looking natural, this is the best video that I'm aware of. This is the wet season in the video, I think, so there's a lot more green than their normally would be. Truth is a "natural" discus tank wouldn't look particularly great in most of our cases.

[Cjbear087]

Many here use an inert white sand like pool filter sand. It is mostly likely a better value also. Not sure what type of sand is part of their natural habitat.
Pat

I was definitely thinking about it but my only worry was the sand getting blown around by my fx6 (it’s a 90gal). Although I was going to just place the powerhead so it blows against the glass as discus don’t like high flow anyways so I guess that would stop it blowing around?

[jwcarlson]

I started with sand and ended up removing the sand in favor of sandy looking spray paint (on the outside), which I much preferred to actual sand, which (even when a very thin layer) really complicated keeping things clean.

My issue with pool filter sand is that it looks great initially, but for me it always ends up getting dirty looking. Other sands hide that better, but they have their own drawbacks. Whatever you get, get ready to rinse until your knuckles bleed!

Edit to add: the sand you're talking about looks more like a fine gravel or fairly coarse sand. The grain size is 2-3x the size of pool filter sand. I wouldn't expect it to be stirred up particularly easily.

[mleibowi]

Inert sand is key. You don't want to leach phosphates etc... which can cause diatom blooms. Further, sand looks very nice but can be a pain.... They can mess up return pumps. Other than looking nice, fine sand will keep waste at the top make maitenance easier than gravel. Of course bare-bottom is the easiest maintenance but I wouldn't go bare bottom on a display tank, personally.