[Rosie]

We're just bought a 90 gallon tank. We've been trying to decide on whether we should purchase Black-Moon Sand or African Cichlid Substrate Sand. Does anyone know the pro's & con's? What is recommended? :fish:

 

[iwishihadmorefish]

play sand or pool filter sand is about 5 bucks for a 50 lb bag and still works well!

 

[malawimix]

The black may hide fish poo a bit better than lighter colors.

Be sure to rinse and rinse and rinse and rinse play sand if you go that route...I tried it in a tank and didn't rinse it enough first. After two weeks the water was still cloudy so I pulled it all back out.

I just did a tank with pool filter sand; got 50 lbs for $9 and didn't have to rinse at all. I put it in and water was clear from the beginning.

 

[Rosie]

Thanks for the advise! There is so much to learn!

 

[ridley25]

Here's a video showing how to rinse sand: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/rinsing_sand.php

And a video showing how to clean sand: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/cleaning_sand.php

kevin

 

[Jmanolinsky]

My black sand doesn't hide anything. Poop sticks out more than with PFS I think. That said, I still like it and would use it again. If you have poop all over the bottom of the tank, it's time to get it out of there! :thumb:

 

[malawimix]

I've got two Marineland H.O.T. canister filters on my 55 with PFS. If I see a little accumulation of poo somewhere I just change the direction of the outflow jets and it seems to kick it up off the bottom and in a few minutes it's all sucked into the filters. I'll vacuum the sand at weekly water changes and rinse the foam sleeves in the filters then also.
Can't believe how much better the tank looks with sand vs. gravel.

 

[rgr4475]

Another vote here for pool filter sand. Cheap and is pretty clean right out of the bag

 

[GTZ]

Aragonite! Sorry, had to.