# Pros and Cons of sand



## MTbiker055 (Jul 28, 2006)

*What color sand looks better with brightly colored fish?*​
Black3042.25%White3143.66%Mix of black/white1014.08%


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## MTbiker055 (Jul 28, 2006)

I have a 29g cichlid tank that is currently filled with pea gravel. I've been looking on this website and have found that a lot of cichlid tanks have sand. So I was wondering is it worth it. How easy is it to maintain? Is it easy to clean? What if you have "earth eaters" will they move it around like gravel? Do you have to clean the top of the sand off every week or so?


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

its much easier to just suck up the gunk off the top of the sand than gravel vacuuming the whole darn tank.

Water changes and cleaning are 10x faster with sand once you get the hang of it.


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

Mmm, my preferred choice is not there - natural color.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

I agree with Trigger. The choices are exclusionary. Another vote for natural. (Tan to brown in my case.)


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

Yeah I go with what we call Honey Sand here, a real nice yellow/orange sand. Looks a bit more natural to me, due to it not being overly dark or bright the fish seem to fit in nicely and show good colours.


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## skiltrip (Sep 3, 2006)

I voted white, but really if Natural was there I would have picked that.

1.) Easier to see the poop you're gonna want to vacuum up.

2.) Natural is well... more natural looking. I use PlaySand and it looks exactly like beach sand.

I'm sure black creats a lot of cool contrast, but I'm just a naturalist at heart!


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## WVfish (Oct 11, 2005)

I used pool filter sand in my new 125 and it required very little cleaning. Its naturally colored with a large grain size so it shouldn't stir up as easy as the fine sands do.


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## LittleFrog (Jun 28, 2006)

I have to agree. I just put a really nice tan coloured pool filter sand in my tank, and I absolutely love how it looks with my rocks!


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## bigvisk (Sep 23, 2006)

i was thinking of using a black/blue combo of the 3m quartz. 3:1 black to blue for my next tank. or, just straight black, well see how it looks.


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## herb (Mar 23, 2003)

i agree with other posters i prefer natural brown to any other color, i have had white it is hard to keep clean, anything on the sand looks bad. my .02cents

herb


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 11, 2006)

i like black or mix like cichlid eco-complete


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## sssage (Jan 10, 2006)

i have 3m color quarts and mixed 4 parts brown, 2 parts that lite purple shade, and 1 part smoke. I have to say that it looks incredibly natural. With the left over I filled my 125 with the opposite ratio and have a predominantly white color with flecks of color, that too looks very natural to me. From what I've seen mixed colors look best. The solid color sands bother me as they look a bit flat and fake. The added dimension of color ratios seem to be very real to me.


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## papastools (Feb 2, 2010)

Would I dair use grape vines to get the vine/tree twigs look?
I picked some white sand type rockes in Florida in salt water dair I use them.
I also brought back schells.
I am seting up for cichlids in a 180.


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## tokyo (Jan 19, 2010)

I also am a fan of natural colored sand. I personally use a brown sand intended for turtles and amphibians that I found at a local pet store.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

MTbiker055 said:


> I have a 29g cichlid tank that is currently filled with pea gravel. I've been looking on this website and have found that a lot of cichlid tanks have sand. So I was wondering is it worth it. How easy is it to maintain? Is it easy to clean? What if you have "earth eaters" will they move it around like gravel? Do you have to clean the top of the sand off every week or so?


Well i use pool filter sand. Half the price of the sand @ your local fish store & you get 10x the amount of sand, ( 50 lb's for $10- )it also drops back to the bottom fast if it's kicked up so chances of it getting sucked into a filter which in turn can screw up the propeller & become costly...Which is also nice for using a siphon gravel vac you dont end up sucking it all up even if your digging deep with the vac.

I've just recently switched out from river rock gravel to pool filter sand so no long term experience, but the 2 weekly water changes/vacuuming's since i switched went by very easy & uncomplicated...

I have a few earth eaters which was the reason behind the switch & they love it...They sift, dig, and play with it all day so for them it's the best choice...They also like to run their bodies in it now & then...Over all they have fun with it...

As far as cleaning it, i have 2 inches deep of sand bed & vacuum all the way down to the bottom of the bed as we all sift through the top layers prior to that, seems to do the job & take care of any potential dead spots...

Personally like most on here think you'd be best with sand. Really up to you on what kind you get & what color based of your own preferences...My recommendation is definitely pool filter sand as far as sand goes...I use Mystic White pool filter sand...Isn't natural as far as colors goes i guess but it brings out the colors on my Geo's very nicely, makes the tank look really clean & presentable & @ night what i like most is the white color really brings out the moon light @ night making it brighter & night viewing much more enjoyable...


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## Dan s (Dec 8, 2009)

Hello,

Im another one that clicked white, but thats only because natural sand isnt listed.

Sand is very easy to maintain, Geos will move it but thats what they do. Pool filter sand has been mentioned and it has a heavier grain so doesnt get wafted up so much and is good for Geos.
Its very easy to clean, just make sure you get the right kind of syphon to clean it off (not a gravel syphon). Dirt sits on top of sand unlike with gravel so is easy to see and remove. Also dont use it to deep, using deep sand will lead to dead spots in it. Some catfish like Corys are good in sand as they sift through it constantly turning it over.
The experience *** had with black sand is that fish colours actually get duller with it, I think because they are trying to blend in with the surroundings.

Dan


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