# Question regarding CaribSea Eco-Complete Cichlid Sand



## gfry (Oct 20, 2009)

I'm going to ditch my gravel and go with sand. I am seriously considering CaribSea Cichlid Sand that is the black and light mixture. This is supposed to buffer the water and raise the pH to 8.2. My tap water has a pH of 8.2 - 8.3 and a KH of 13 so I already have plenty of buffering capacity and the pH is pretty much ideal as is. Will this substrate raise the pH higher than 8.2? Or will it somehow "magically" keep it where it is?

Sorry if this is a silly question...


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

With your tap water already being rather alkaline, the substrate will not do much in the way of buffering. It really needs a more acidic water to break down the sand and release the calcium and minerals.


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## gfry (Oct 20, 2009)

Got it. That make perfect sense. I was just concerned that it would cause the water to become even more alkaline than it already is.

Thanks.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

no the materials used in the cichlids sand has its own ph of about 8.2 si it couldn;t cause it to be any higher even if it completely dissolved


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

If you like the look of the product, please buy it. But with your water paramaters, and not needing the buffering capacity, it would look better(IMO), and be less expensive with poolfilter sand, or playsand.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

+1 on the pool filter sand...much cheaper and now that *** switched back to it im glad i did. tank looks more bright and clean. *** also had that salt and pepper type eco complete as well as tahitian moon black sand. the whiteish looks the best in my opinion. that being said ill probrably get sick of it in a year and change it.


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## iCichlid (Sep 21, 2009)

I use this and my ph isn't 8.x. I have to add stuff to get it to 8.0. I liked it at first, but it stirs up very easily and vacuuming it is a pain. I'll be switching to pool filter sand when I upgrade the tank.


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## Liam_Doherty (Sep 8, 2009)

I use this sand and I like it. My natural water PH is a little higher too and it hasn't affected it any. This was indeed more $$$ than pool filter sand, but I like the salt and pepper look. Maybe some day I'll switch, but I don't see a reason to right now. Enjoy it and remember you'll have to rinse it first. When I got it I was thinking that since it was made for a fish tank and sold at a fish store, that it was already rinsed. What a mess I had when I just put it in my tank. Good thing I was setting up a new tank and didn't have fish yet. lol Good luck.


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## scrubjay (Oct 25, 2009)

If you don't need it, I would go with something that looked more natural, like the pool filter sand, or other types available from aquarium supply places. I'm fussy about things looking natural, and you wouldn't generally find black and white sand grains together in a lake. However, I do really like some tanks with the black sand or white sand too.


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