Calcium Sand

[Trisomy21]

A friend of mine works at pet store here and is giving me a bunch of sand, got 1 bag so far but it's Calcium sand with pictures of reptiles on it....Is this stuff alright for Cichlids or fish in general?

My tank has Kenyi, Otopharynx lithobates, Melanochromis Johannii and a Green Sunfish.

 

[happygirl65]

Its probably fine for cichlids that need higher pH or if your water is very soft and needs buffering capacity. But it also depends on how fine it is. You will want to wash it very well first. Mostly FW tanks are better off using something inert like pool filter sand instead of calcium based sand but others might have a different idea.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I agree, if it is very fine, you may have problems with it. I have pool filter sand in all of my tanks and i find it much easier to set up, clean, and look at than some of the other finer sands. I've read in a few forums of some people using it though.