Sand VS Gravel

[kotenok]

I've heard that sand is better compare to gravel in many ways. Someone recommend me to buy sand from Home Depot. I just added it to my betta fish tank and the water looks really cloudy. Should I wash sand before adding it to a tank or the cloudiness will go away with time?
Also any recommendations as for air pump? I am looking for the quietest one that will work for my 55g aquarium.

 

[mohican]

Are you using live plants? Sand will cloud a tank, especially sand not designed for aquarium. The particles can be too fine to settle. I would have little water disturbance. Rena (blue) air pumps are awesome.

 

[kotenok]

Are you using live plants? Sand will cloud a tank, especially sand not designed for aquarium. The particles can be too fine to settle. I would have little water disturbance. Rena (blue) air pumps are awesome.

Thank you. I will try Rena air pump today.Could you explain a little bit more about water disturbance? What did you mean by that? And no, I don't have live plants yet. They are a little bit expansive. I am currently looking for smth a little bit cheaper than petco/petsmart prices.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

You should almost always rinse off new sand before adding it to an aquarium. Especially sand that was not meant for aquariums! Even the white sand I have from Caribsea instructs to wash their product before adding it in. This would be doubly so for Home Depot stuff! LOL.... Also, my sand came with a BioMagnet Clarifier liquid you add to help with the cloudiness. I think this is just the same as some aquarium water clarifier you can pick up the LFS. It will help the smaller particles clump together so that you can siphon it out with a partial water change.

For air pumps, I use a Marina Air Pump by Hagen. It's super quiet and does the job well. I think it's $11 on Amazon for the 200 model (which is rated for your 55g).

 

[kotenok]

Thank you for an advice.
Couple hours ago I bought Rena air pump for 80g aquarium and I really like it. It's so much quieter than Whisper one. I bought it from Petsmart for $29 (it was on sale.) They actually let me to open every single one they had and try them out. If I'm not mistaken Rena is the quietest you can get, at least from Petsmart

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Thank you for an advice.
Couple hours ago I bought Rena air pump for 80g aquarium and I really like it. It's so much quieter than Whisper one. I bought it from Petsmart for $29 (it was on sale.) They actually let me to open every single one they had and try them out. If I'm not mistaken Rena is the quietest you can get, at least from Petsmart

Yeah I've heard good things about Rena. It's just for the money, I'm glad I went with the one I got. I have a Tetra Whisper too and that's pretty noisy so I have something to compare the Marina Air Pump too. IMO, Hagen makes great products too and aside from their AquaClear filters, they are often over looked. $11 versus $29, $11 wins if it's quiet and works. But as long as you're happy and got one that you like is all that matters.

BTW, if you have your air pump below your aquarium, you should add a Check Valve for safety. I also added a O2 Control Lever Air Pump Valve in the line to control the amount of bubbles getting pumped in the tank. I personally liked less bumbles for a calmer appearance.

 

[Gillie]

Sand is a definite bonus as it cuts maintenance of the substrate down, so instead of vacuuming gravel you just run a siphon just high enough above the sand to suck up waste and not the sand.