# caribsea sand substrate, cant decide???? help



## harveyb27 (Dec 15, 2008)

i have mbuna in my tank, and cannot decide on what substrate to go for. i want a completely natural look, that closely matches that of thier native sand (lake malawi).

has anyone had these sand types, what do you think of them and do your mbuna like it?

caribsea grand bahama biome
caribsea african cichlid eco-complete sand

i have read mixed reviews about the cichlid sand, some think its natural, and some do not because of a "salt and pepper" look.

i like the look of grand biome, but in the picture there are shells, how big are they, does it look good? or is it just more money for plain looking sand?

please share whhat sand substrates you have in your "malawi-mbuna" tanks.

thank you


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## BoostedX (Mar 1, 2009)

Here is a pic of my pool filter sand. I really like it. Its a nice tan color. Sry bout the pic its got a green hue to it..


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## Hawks (Feb 7, 2008)

The Eco sand is decent, although the salt and pepper look gets old after a while. I would go with an all black or an all white sand instead.


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

I have the eco-complete sand in my 90 gallon tank and love it, I'd do it again. Here's a tank pic:


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## jhunbj (May 16, 2005)

Steve St.Laurent said:


>


The rocks look awesome!!! :thumb:


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## harveyb27 (Dec 15, 2008)

they look really good in your tanks, especially with the holey rock, but i dont like the salt n pepper look, im actually switching from holey rock, to a 3D background, i was thinking of buying this one:

brown - http://www.aquariumhabitats.com/new_aquat_010p.jpg
grey - http://www.aquariumhabitats.com/new_aquat_019m.jpg

im not too bothered about what colour i get, as algae will cover them eventually, but what sand would go best with the background. i cant decide between:

1. caribsea aragmax select (dry aragonite)

2. caribsea special grade reef sand (arag-alive with marine bacteria? should it matter that i put this in freshwater?)

3. caribsea grand bahamas biome (also dry aragonite)

heres the link for the sand - http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/aragalive.html

which do you think would look most natural with the background?


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## harveyb27 (Dec 15, 2008)

??


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## PR_islander (Mar 26, 2009)

I got the salt and pepper look I like it but ,for my next tank Im going to get regular sand . I think it looks better.


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## tlspmm (Feb 1, 2009)

Aragonite caribea reef floor sand is very nice, it's what I put in my tank. It's a great buffer for desired 8.2 ph


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## harveyb27 (Dec 15, 2008)

nice tank, i think i might go with aragamax select because of its tan colour. has anyone seen this in a tank? does it bring outt the fishes colours?


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