nitrous
Aquarium Advice FINatic
what sand is good from a hardware store, can iu just go and buy play sand for my tank, also how many pounds per gallon?
I like sand as well. Be very careful when changing your tank, as you can start a mini-cycle when removing substrate, since you will be stirring up all kinds of debris in the gravel when you do, and your gravel contains a major portion of your biofilter.
Sand will eliminate the accumulation of debris that you have with gravel, but, as mentioned, debris shows up very well on white sand. Solid black sand has the very same problem. Sand that is a mixture of tan, brown and white, or black and white solves this very nicely and looks natural, IMO.
You will no longer dig your syphon hose into the substrate to clean it, or you will wind up with sand going down your drain or into your bucket. What I do is wave the rigid end of the syphon hose around, or my hand, to lift debris up so I can suction it off. Many plants do well in sand because it is easy for the roots to get anchored.
Good luck!