Please Help Me Choose a High-Quality Sand Substrate - 16 Gal - 37 Gal

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Twoapennything

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
410
Location
Denver, Colorado
Hi everyone :)

I purchased an all-inclusive Aqueon deluxe bow front 16 gallon aquarium kit. I have a 10 gallon aquarium that I'm finding to be just a tad bit too small after a couple of years. I'd like the fish to have more room.

I also have a 37 gallon Marineland Eclipse 3 with a biowheel and all that, which I am currently rebuilding.

So for both aquariums I want a really stellar substrate. I absolutely love sand -- it's beautiful and natural-looking -- but had ongoing problems with sand previously. It burned out four intake impellers because the sand would get up into the filter intake, and I'd like to see if there's a way to have sand as a substrate but avoid the constant filter intake burnout.

Can I get recommendations for sand or sand-like substrate? NOTE: I do not have access to pool sand. I would prefer white, black, or something along the lines of this nifty blue:

The blue substrate is called "Special Spectrastone Gravel" so is clearly not sand, but any advice on sand and keeping the impeller from burning out would be most welcome. I do have the ability to special order if I need to. Thank you for any replies :)
 

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I use the black diamond blasting sand and i have pantyhose over my intake. NEVER had an issue
 
Twoapennything said:
$40.00 in shipping is not exactly a bargain.

I haven't yet been able to find it locally. I'll keep looking. Thanks :)

I got mine from tractor supply
 
If you have a place in town that rents sand blasters and other "heavy" equipment (Sunbelt in my area) they will also have blasting sand. Research the bag before you buy to make sure it is appropriate.
 
There are, I think 3 different sizes to it. You can look at the sand in some tanks on youtube
 
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