How many kinds of sand substrate are there?

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Chiroptera

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I've seen the normal types like play sand, pool sand, black beauty, etc, but are there any types that are really unique, pretty, or otherwise? Looking for a freshwater, tropical tank. What are your thoughts on sand, and how easy it is? What are your favorites?
 
I used the Petco brand black sand in my aquarium and love it! Is very clean to start with and cleaning it was breeze. Looks very nice in my aquarium, I have multies and a pair of dwarf sumbu comps. and the fish colors really stand out with the back sand.
 
I use playsand it's a pain at first to clean but extremely cheap and play sand has red clay in it so excellent for planted tanks and it's not that bad looking in the tank I'm working on a sand box type look for a new tank but won't get to start on it till I get back
 
I use playsand it's a pain at first to clean but extremely cheap and play sand has red clay in it so excellent for planted tanks and it's not that bad looking in the tank I'm working on a sand box type look for a new tank but won't get to start on it till I get back

That's what I was thinking. Either that or the black equivalent, Black Beauty. Doesn't it take hours with a bucket to clean?
 
I use Petco Brand White Sand. I absolutely love it. The grain size, color, etc. Great sand over all. I tried PFS but I don't really like it, it is cheap though.
 
Wow, I'm hearing a lot about Petco sand.. That's actually the closest big-named pet store nearby. I'll have to go one day and take a look at some of it. Maybe tomorrow? And do they have a few different types/colors?
 
Black beauty is not the black equivalent of playsand. Play sand is quartz sand and black beauty is coal slag.

The 'aquarium' sands you find at pet stores are good but can get expensive for bigger tanks.

Other good options for colored sand is 3m Colorquartz (no longer being made but still in stock in some places), spectraquartz, or estes. Estes is often the stuff in LFS being labeled as aquarium sand and you can buy this in 50lb bags through an industrial supply company.

A company local to me carries this stuff in 50lb increments at about $25 per with 2 different grain sizes and a multitude of colors.

With all sand you'll need to wash thoroughly or you will have clouding issues from all of the dust.

And no, there is no clay in basic play sand.
 
Petco in my city has different colors but only black and white in the twenty pounds bags. They were out of the black twenty pound bags when I bought my sand but sold me four five pound bags for the same price as a twenty pound bag. Saved a few bucks!
 
jetajockey said:
Black beauty is not the black equivalent of playsand. Play sand is quartz sand and black beauty is coal slag.

The 'aquarium' sands you find at pet stores are good but can get expensive for bigger tanks.

Other good options for colored sand is 3m Colorquartz (no longer being made but still in stock in some places), spectraquartz, or estes. Estes is often the stuff in LFS being labeled as aquarium sand and you can buy this in 50lb bags through an industrial supply company.

A company local to me carries this stuff in 50lb increments at about $25 per with 2 different grain sizes and a multitude of colors.

With all sand you'll need to wash thoroughly or you will have clouding issues from all of the dust.

And no, there is no clay in basic play sand.

This is such a treasure trove of information. Wow.

I know, for the tank I want I'm going to be posed over a hose/tub for hours. Completely worth it, though, I'm really bored of gravel/rock substrate.

I'll take a look at some of the local non-monster retailer fish stores and see if they have any of these, or check companies nearby, etc. I know there's a huge industrial company that sells pool sand and a few others I can't identify by the ton. Thank you for all these names, definitely a great post.

And I wasn't aware of black beauty. I was told they had the same consistency,etc. Does that affect the water quality at all?

Also, since the support is overwhelming, I'm going to go to Petco, too. Even if it's a little expensive, if I find one I think will suit the tank, and I can't find another alternative like it, it'll be worth the price.
 
Petco sand isn't much, if any, different than petsmart sand and etc. With products like this these companies typically just rebrand them into consumer size packaging, it's not like they are out back manufacturing this stuff. It's just that a lot of people go there so that's what they get. That said, they are not always equal since they could be using different suppliers, so it's good to go with one that has been tested and given good reviews.

There are lots of people who use the black beauty stuff, and based on some research it seems to be inert, but it's not something I have used. I like the uniformity of the ceramic coated colored sand (estes/3m colorquartz) and it does not have rough edges. It costs a bit more than the coal slag and playsand/filter sand, though.


If you find an industrial supply company that carries sand, you can ask them what colors they have. They should have quite a range of options.
 
I really like petco sand because I don't rinse it. I just throw it in and push around the floating sand till it sinks down with my net and turn the filter on.

Playsand on other hand is down right annoying I rather pay a little more for instant gratification.
 
Wow. I have a 36 bowfront. I used about 3/4 of a 50 lb. Bag and it took me maybe 20 minutes. I did 3 seperate bucket loads.
 
Yea I also found that I can vacuum it like gravel if the bucket isn't much lower than the tank when I siphon. But I'm not going to do that lol.
 
Actually yes most common brands of play sand does contain clay.

Well, the kind I have used from HD is just white quartz sand. My issue with it is the inconsistent grain size more than anything, it tends to pack down too easily.

Could be a regional thing, but wouldn't the clay make playsand look dirty?

Now that I think about it I did get some brown/yellow colored playsand once thinking it would be a nice contrast from the bright white and when I rinsed it all the color went away with it. I bet that was clay.
 
I've never given the regional thing much thought but it's possible. Everything locally here does contains clay, from low to a fairly high concentration depending on manufacturer.

I personally feel its a poor choice for aquariums due to the amount of time it takes to clean it and the way it compacts, there are loads of better of substrates.
 
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