Aquarium sand advice

[russrimm]

We're trying to decide what kind of sand to buy for our african cichlid and community tank. We're wanting to swap out our gravel for sand.

We would like something lighter in color, as we have darker cichlids. I was reading that silica (blasting) sand is a good light choice. Is this safe and OK to use? I'm assuming home depot or lowes would carry it. We saw bags of sand at the LFS but they're like $25 for a 30lb bag. That could get expensive!

Any recommendations?

 

[severum mama]

I set up new tank last month and I used pool filter sand. Mine is really light and it was only $9 for a 50 pound bag. Check out some pool supply stores and you should be able to find it no problem. It looks great in my tank and my fish seem to like it.

 

[SerLunchbox]

Home Depot ... Sandbox sand. $3.95 CDN and is pre-washed with no chemical additives. Total weight 25KG (apx 55 lbs). Pool filter snad will work as well. If you wanted you could also get the sand box sand and bleach it in the sun (no chemicals just laid out flat thinly on sheet pans or something like that and left in the hot sun for some time.) Also, be sure to get some snails that will keep the sand shifting. I think that it is an important thing to do so you don't run into any problems

 

[fearlessfisch]

i used silica blasting sand from the hardware store and i really like it. my corycats and loaches love to dig in it, and i monitored carefully at first to make sure it wasn't too sharp or hard on the corycats' barbels. i've had no problems. it is very fine and pure white. you can click on my gallery to see what it looks like in the tank.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I used play sand from Home Depot in my 180gal Oscar tank and it looks great.

 

[TankGirl]

Eco-Complete makes an African Cichlid mix that is sortof black and white, and will help buffer your water for your Africans. I love this stuff, so it is another option for you.

Other sand tanks of mine have pool filter sand and play sand, and I prefer the pool filter sand because it is not as light so it does not tend to swirl around the tank.