I use river sand, I think it's as natural a look as you can get. You get a mix of fine and course grains with little bits of Quartz and other rocks. I haven't had an issue with ph levels fluctuating from the sand contents.
I'll upload a photo when my light comes on.
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Sorry for the lopsided picture.
If I had to redo it I would have chosen dark substrate. It's not worth the amount of work it would be to switch it out though to actually do it.
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River sand is what I'm been looking at and definitely share a photo!
I have done
black sand / black background
black sand / blue background
black gravel / planted background
natural gravel / with all 3 listed backgrounds
I was eventually unhappy with all combos
I have been using red flint aquarium sand / filter sand and love it.
My LFS carries it for $12.99 for 50 LBS
Sand and Gravel Water Filtration Media - Red Flint
Here is what it looks like with my midevil in the picture.
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Here's my 5g low tech, crypt only tank. Yeah it needs to fill in a bit more I know.
I use pool filter sand, looks great and also won't show waste and debris as easy as pure white sand.
That's going to look nice! What stock do you plan for it?