# sand substrate...



## Johnny579 (Aug 22, 2014)

I am planning a ten gallon planted tank and want to try sand, ive read its what most fish and african dwarf frogs(the main reason for the tank) actually prefer. Ive never used sand always gravel because ive heard its much harder to keep clean and you cant vacuum it, i thought about planting a grass to cover it so i wouldnt have to worry about it as much but with the bottem dwellers i want, im not so sure it would be a great idea. So sand yes or no?


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## kittenfish (Dec 1, 2013)

I think sand is actually easier to clean, since debris sits on top of it instead of sinking into crevices. You can vacuum it by passing the gravel vac over the surface. Petco aquarium sand is a good coarseness (not too fine) and almost dust-free in my experience.


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## kjg1029 (Jun 14, 2014)

sand is a YES! i love sand, infact its in 3/4 of my tanks (the 4th is bare bottom). no you cant ecatly siphon it, but you just siphon the top off (so you arent sucking up sand, jsut the debris), because all the poo and junk sits ontop instead of getting lost between the gravle. i was also hesitant of sand, i though it would be hard to clean ect. i love how it looks natrual, and wont every harm anything that lives in the tank.

when (if) you add the sand, be sure to turn off the filter first, and wait an half hour or so for it to settle, so it doesnt suck up a bunch.


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## Johnny579 (Aug 22, 2014)

I am really leaning toward sand and have always liked how it looked when i see aquariums with it. I was also wondering about fish that clean the sand, ive read some like cory cats or kuhli loaches will actually sift the sand through their gills. Ive always wanted to have kuhlis in a sand bottom aquarium, ive heard they are so much more active.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Corys and laoches (not all loaches) along with dwarf ram cichlids will search for food on the substrate and end up pushing it around with their barbells (loach and corry) or 'snout' (cichlid) if they find something they think is food they'll suck it up and expel the excess sand out their gills. This does not mean they go around inch by inch sucking up all the sand and spitting it out though. And no fish or snail will eat poo which you will get on top of the sand, so you'll have to remove that at water changes. 
Some people use Malaysian trumpet snails (MTS) to also sift sand, but many complain about them getting out of control for population. I keep them in all my tanks and just harvest the young ones for my husband's dwarf puffers, they seem to like the little ones more than the adults. If you keep a planted tank with plants that have very short roots (like dwarf baby tears) the mts will make those plants come loose and float up as they dig on by (know from experience unfortunately). But they are fine with all my other plants. 

For cleaning the tank I use a simple siphon (not a battery run 'gravel vac'). If you get sand I'd recommended getting a siphon with a long/tall tube (hard part at start that goes into tank.. not the hosing). I have a siphon for over 15g-55g (by its recommendation) and have no issue with siphoning sand up into the hosing/drain bucket. On the other hand, I also have some tiny siphons for 5g and under tanks with short tubing (used in small tanks). I do very gentle up and down or swirling motions with it near the sand to lift poo and debris up which then gets sucked in.

Now for buying sand, if you want to save $ (and especially if you are doing anything larger than a 2-5g tank) I'd recommend looking into sands that are not sold as "aquarium sands" like those at the pet stores as those have stupidly inflated prices. You can get Black diamond blasting abrasive 'sand' from Tractor Supply co 8$ for 50lb bag (20/40 grit or -60 is sand size) many people with cories and burrowing fish use this without issue of their barbs being hurt by the substrate. Its not abrasive underwater, just what blasted under pressure dry ^^. As you may guess from the name, this 'sand' will be black (with a few red-ish brown hue specks but 99% black). If you want light colored sand look into pool filter sand and play sand, which are also cheaper than pet store aquarium sands. 
I use Black Diamond in all my tanks except plant dumping tank (gravel) quarantine (bare bottom) and a less than .5g vase with soil and gravel (was a test comparison to soil ad sand). I've used 2-3 bags (16-24$) for: 2g, 3g, 7g, 12g long, 20g long, 55g tanks and have spent less than you would for 1-2 bags of sand needed for a 10g.

I will say that black diamond (and I think all sands) need rinsed before use. When putting into the tank, turn off the filter and cup the sand in, put the cup as close to the bottom before tipping it to let sand pour out to minimize mess. If you do it with the tank completely empty of water, use a long plate or even zip lock like storage bag to pour water onto when refilling to avoid kicking up a lot of sand and making a mess.


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## Johnny579 (Aug 22, 2014)

Im seriously thinking corys or ottos for this tank, and probably pool sand if its cheaper and i would prefer not black. Ive been trying to get my hands on some malaysian trumpet snails but my none of my lfs will order them for me and all claim to have never had problems with them. I have a dwarf puffer tank and want to start an mts colony for it, i had a small black snail population in that tank and they were gone within a week of adding the puffers.

As for the ten gallon im pretty set on a setup with sand substrate, a big piece of driftwood (i would like to find one that arches across the tank), some easy plants java fern anubias hornwort moss balls. For fish i was thinking about 6 ghost catfish, 3 or 4 african dwarf frogs, 3 or 4 cory or oto catfish. Ive always wanted an elephant ear betta but thats not a definite because of cost and the tank maybe a little full already.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

I don't know much about the ghost cat fish or adf, but otos and cories are shoaling fish and should be kept in groups of 6 or more for their comfort. Also only get pygmy or dwarf cories for a 10g if you get any at all, every other species of cory needs *larger *than 20g for the group size as they grow.


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## countyrd419 (Apr 6, 2013)

Good evening Johnny579. I use sand substrate for Patriot's tank. I can tell you it is so much easier to clean than gravel. In fact, any pellet that sinks, he is able to gobble it up from the bottom. Here is a picture of what a sand substrate tank looks like. Patriots' home is a 2.5 heated gallon Aqueon tank which I bought at Petsmart.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

I use sand as a cap for my tanks. My mts love the sand. They are also great as an early barometer of water quality.


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## Johnny579 (Aug 22, 2014)

Aqua Aurora said:


> I don't know much about the ghost cat fish or adf, but otos and cories are shoaling fish and should be kept in groups of 6 or more for their comfort. Also only get pygmy or dwarf cories for a 10g if you get any at all, every other species of cory needs *larger *than 20g for the group size as they grow.


Ghost cats are schooling fish and suppose to be perfect for a peaceful ten gallon community, staying around mid to top tank. Adfs like to atleast be in a mating pair but larger groups are better. Ill probably choose the otos if im going to get that many, ive become very fond of them lately and love how small they are.


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## SunnyCydUp (Aug 31, 2014)

I used a mixture of play sand and organic garden (_not_ potting) soil (2 or 3 parts sand to 1 part soil), with a smattering of aquarium gravel here and there among the plants and hardscape. Play sand works really well - just rinse the crap out of it first! Using it in all 4 of my planted tanks (3, 6, 10 and 20-gallon). Very easy to take care of, and the plants grow like crazy - no need for additional ferts.


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