just wanted to know.i like the look of sand more then lfs gravel,but know nothing about it n wouldnt the fish poo just kinda sit there? n how would u clean that?

I use "Aqua Terra Sand" in my freshwater tank. Havn't had any problems with it. It comes in a lot of different colors. You can clean the tank floor with a syphon. Takes a little practice to suck up the fish poo without getting a lot of sand. Most of the sand is heavy enough not be sucked up.

home depot sand... or sand blasting sand...

crushed coral is super light and you can't really do much with it...

i was using a under gravel jet system in my 60g... really kept the sand bed clean...


one of the advantages of sand is that you don't get nasty stuff digging itself in the bed and rotting up... it's packs up tighter than the CC...


there's also a very great sand called 3M color quartz... it comes in two sized and has alot of great colors... from green, red, black, 2 shades of white... and it's super heavy too... doesn't go flying around when fish swim by so no sand storms...


but... it's kind of hard to find, but most pool making companies can get you a 50lb back for around 30 bucks or so... which is cheap because you just rinse it out once and put it in the tank...


also... it's made of quartz crystals so it will scratch up your glass faster... quartz is harder than glass...

so is silica...



but you know...


whatever...

I use Pool Filter Sand and it is awesome... Its made of quartz so it sinks immediately, when I go to clean it, some sucks up in the gravel-vac then it settles.. I personally think the sand is much easier to clean than gravel.

I have black tahitian moon sand in my 55 gal. This sand is kinda pricey though, around $23 for 20 lbs of it.

I made the switch from gravel to sand. Honestly I like the sand better, it is a little harder to clean until you get used to it. If you have a syphon filter (python or whatever) you can swish the end of it a few inches above the sand and the poo will float. The sand is heavy enough that if you get it into the syphon it will fall back down, but a few of the lighter pieces will be picked up.

One other thing you need to know about sand is that you'll need to move the sand around every now and then. Kind of like tilling the ground in a garden. This is because the sand will compact and cause pockets where water cannot get into it. These can form gas pockets, and if these gases escape it's not good for the fish. I don't know the specifics of what the gases are, I think nitrogen, but I'm not sure. I just stir the sand up about once every couple of weeks.

In my opinion nothing beats the look of sand in an aquarium. I'll post a pic of mine with sand in it later today on my avatar.

Just make sure you wash the crap out of the sand before you put it in the aquarium, when you think it's clean wash it some more.. :)