substrate help please

[angel obsessed]

hey guys, Im wanting to do a sand tank, can I do this with freshwater fish or do they have to be marine. I really like the look of sand on the bottom of tanks. Especially white. And what is the best sort of filter to use? Ive heard sand can be a real pain because its always disturbed when youre cleaning the tank etc, but does the filter affect this as well? Oh and one more thing, where can I buy the sand? Petshops? I went to my local but their substrate was for marine only. I saw someone advertising a tank on trademe that used sand from placemakers???? Any help would be awesome!!! Im in CHCH.

[Zabman]

Hi There.

I have used some Daltons Propagating sand in my tank with no problems so far. It can be purchased from Garden Centres but requires a good wash/boil before adding to the tank.

[rollergirl]

You can use sand in your tank, but some kinds (aragonite/calcium sand) will raise pH which you may not want with freshwater fish (I'm assuming you are going to be keeping angels in it based upon your username? ) Pretty sure that silica sand is one 'white' kind that won't have an effect on pH, so could be used in a freshwater set up. You can normally find it in places like Placemakers, Mitre 10 etc, and it's relatively cheap too which is a bonus. However a word of warning, you may find it hard to keep clean, poos sit on the top of it and it can get dirty very quickly! The fish colours may also look a little washed out against it as it is quite pale, but it's totally up to you to decide what 'colour scheme' you want for your tank . Hope this helps!

[angel obsessed]

thanks so much for the help you 2 Yeh I was thinking about the 'washed out' thing. And yes, angels in my tank as well as a couple of other things. Thanks for the info. I might give it a go for a while and see what happens. I have heard of silicon sand, I will have a look at mitre 10 tomorrow. Now Im kinda leaning towards black sand tho LOL. Geez! Will let you know how it goes and post pics when its complete!