# White Aquarium Sand



## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

So I have been thinking of making the transition from bare bottom planted tank to sand planted tank. I already have some white aquarium sand. I have noticed that in the pots I have for my plants, the sand turned brown and gray colors from, what I am guessing, mold and bacteria. I read that this goes away after you establish your nitrogen cycle, but mine already is. I was wondering if this could be avoided by stirring up the sand every week with a stick (I use knitting needles ). Or if there is some other trick to keeping white sand white. I was also thinking maybe mixing it with black aquarium sand to make a salt and pepper look and lessen the discoloring. Any ideas/advice?


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## Lilypad (Oct 15, 2014)

I haven't had any issue with my white sand discoloring. However... I do hate it because you easily see every little bit of poo or plant matter or everything else. It always ends up looking "dirty." I vacuum it regularly.


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## Watermelons (Jul 21, 2015)

Yes it does need to be cleaned frequently and properly if you want it to stay looking clean 
Ive seriously considered replacing all the aragonite sand in my salt tank with black sand because I hate how nasty the "cream" coloured stuff looks, I imagine white would be worse lol


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## Anne713 (Jul 18, 2014)

I suggest not using white. You can see EVERYTHING. My first tank had white. I went with black for my current.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

You can go for Golden sand instead, it doesn't show as much but is still lighter alternative. I like to mix my sand with a bit of FloraMax or other natural gravel to give it slight texture.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

I'm the odd ball in the group. I like seeing sand dirty. Makes it look more natural for my taste. lol


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## artemis35 (Jul 11, 2014)

Add me to the "don't use white sand" group.

I have white sand in two of my planted tanks, and it shows _every, single bit _of snail/fish poo, mulm and other detritus known to man :lol:
Even with regular vacuuming and plant maintenance, it just looks "grungy" to me. Sure, it looked beautiful when I first set it up, but that "newness" faded quickly. 

I originally chose white sand for those tanks because the female betta in each tank is a very dark navy blue color. I was afraid that each would "disappear" against a black sand background. Maybe the white sand does show them off better than black, but I still will never use white sand again in a new tank.


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

I like my lighter sand :lol: I also like how it looks once the dirt is mixed in. I find with sand, once all the gross bits begin to mix in with the top layer, it begins to look more natural. Not as perfectly white, but to me that is a good thing.

To be honest I can see poo just as badly on black sand, if not worse!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

I have realized that when using black sand, It is just as worse. you see mulm everywhere imo. You're not going to get away with perfect caps ever. lol But you would think small black gravel would be hard to see the poo since there are cracks? Never tired black gravel, I only have white.


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## artemis35 (Jul 11, 2014)

This reminds me of the "chocolate vs. vanilla" debate 

It's all good, though!


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Thank for the input everyone! I picked up white sand, because that's all they had. I just spent about an hour outside washing, dumping, and refilling with water the bucket of sand. Ahh!! Will it finally settle clear?! My knuckles are scrapped raw from all the sifting. I'm going to leave it now to see if it'll all settle.


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

the rinsing will help a lot! Sometimes it depends on the brand. I had no issues after a quick rinse of Nat Geo sand


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Oh, yay! It's still cloudy when I mix it up, but when I pour new water in it stays clear.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Haha! it is! my favorite shade is black but for some reason I chose white for all of my substrate. Haha


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## kitkat67 (Mar 10, 2015)

Checked it this morning and the water was crystal clear! I left it drying in the sun. I cant wait to rescape!


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

My husband has a white sand tank, I don't care for it, shows poop and broken down plant matter more easier than darker substrates.


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