Types of freshwater aquarium substrates,sand OK?

Question

I have a new 75 gallon African cichlid tank,would like to use sand in it.My other tanks all have gravel,my water is hard as nails.
Is sand OK in your experiences? I am thinking of white silica,like they use for sandblasting.Guy at Petsmart wanted me to use crushed coral,it would have cost a small fortune for a 100 pounds or so.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Sand is fine to use, have it in almost all my tanks(been using it for about 8 years now), soon to be all of them. I also used regular kid's play sand from Lowe's. Some people prefer pool filter sand, and I've heard of some using blasting sand as well. The play sand has more of a "white" look then pool filter sand.
You want to get silica free sand though, otherwise you're going to have brown algae/diatom problems.

I'd stay away from crushed coral as a substrate though. I disliked that, was too hard to keep clean, and eventually can lead to nitrate problems because you can't clean it that well. If you want to use it, put it in a mesh filter media bag and add it to your filter that way.

One thing you want to be careful of, if the sand is over an inch in any area of the tank, at least once a month you need to stir it up. I use the handle end of a net, or my hand/finger if I"m cleaning the tank to just sift through it. Some kind of gas can build up under the sand if it's too deep.

Answer 2

There's nothing wrong with using sand (as long as it doesn't have sharp edges). But I'd have to wonder what type of African cichlids you're keeping that they don't like hard water.

For the majority of African lake cichlids, they prefer hard, alkaline water (but will admit there are some from the Congo and other areas that don't). The silica sand won't help to raise the pH or hardness if your cichlids require it, but the aragonite or crushed coral will. What you may save in costs of your substrate you may spend on additives to raise your pH (which will also raise your hardness) if you are keeping species that need the alkaline conditions. And the aragonite/coral substrate will keep the conditions more constant than trying to adjust the water with chemicals.

Before you make your final decision, be sure you know what tank conditions your cichlid species will need: http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/list.aspx?category=5

Answer 3

i use play sand from home depot for my cichlids and they love it! the play sand only costs $4 for 50 pounds just wash it really thoroughly in a bucket until the water turns clear b4 adding it to the tank

Answer 4

complex matter. query at search engines like google. that will can assist!

Answer 5

sophisticated stuff. try searching on google. this can help!