I screwed up with my sand

[04rwon]

So we had regular white sand, really fine grain. When we upgraded to the 29 gallon we needed more substrate. So thinking it would look good, similar to our african cichlid mix in our 55, we decided to mix black sand in. Well i rinsed it and dumped it in. Shoulda left it as it sat...but i didnt. I mixed it up. Now it looks like crap. The black sand is nowhere near as fine. Is there anything i can do to make it look good?
More mixing? Somehow seperate the two?


The water is still a little cloudy, so ignore that plz.

 

[crazyclowntang]

looks like cookies n creme

 

[Ading522]

I would have gone with either black all the way or white all the way.. looks like you won't be able to easily separate the mix you have..maybe cover it up with a layer of black? Or white? Good luck!

 

[verbal]

I would have gone with either black all the way or white all the way.. looks like you won't be able to easily separate the mix you have..maybe cover it up with a layer of black? Or white? Good luck!

I think your layer is thin enough that covering it with one color of the other should be a possibility.

 

[04rwon]

I was honestly starting to consider just going to home depot and buying 40lbs of play sand for 2.50 and starting over.

All white shows way to much crap. 1 day and its filthy. In our cichlid tank with the mixed colors, no problem. It looks good and you dont see any crap on the bottom. It is a bigger tank with twice the filtration though....

 

[Prince]

Play sand is very dirty. Try Pool Filter sand. The Petco brand sand is great! It's like T-grade Color quartz.

 

[Hannibal]

+1 on the PFS. I have it in all of my tanks and don't even bother rinsing it anymore when I set up a new tank.

 

[Becca]

I had some petco sand and it floated and I had a tough time getting it all to sink... Maybe they've changed it a bit?

 

[Ading522]

Don't know about other sand, but I've tried play sand and although it dies look nice, its very fine and cleaning the dirt or poop on the bottom can cause you to suck in sand from the bottom..you'll eventually end up having to replace the sand over time.. I use pool filter sand from Leslie..you can get one at any pool supply shop..and although it comes in only one color, its pretty nice to look at, and is heavier..doesn't create a lot of cloudines even when you put it in.. that's the best way to go IMHO..

 

[Jefft]

Play sand.. nope yes on the pool filter sand.. Mystic White is what I use.. cheap 9.00 a bag.. good stuff..

 

[Ading522]

+1 on cheap.. at least 45-50 lbs per bag..can't beat that!

 

[Avatar]

High contrast

Play sand is very fine and requires a lot of rinsing to rid of silt (as in 7-8 rinsings per 1/2 bag in a 5 gallon bucket). That being said, it's a very nice white that looks great and shows off fish coloration in ways that pool sand cannot.

Outflow from filters can be set to funnel detritus toward sponge pre-filter(s) for "collection and processing". Mostly comes down to a matter of taste as functionality of play vs. pool sand is basically the same – am myself willing to invest the extra work into something that I perceive as aesthetically superior.

Have bought all of my many bags on several occasions at 1/2 price from Home Depot on Rhode Island Ave. in DC that were punctured/leaking - a smiling inquiry about a possible discount was all it ever took. Just don't breathe in the silt (or let kids play in it) before it has been rinsed.

 

[Owens]

Removing substrate from a running tank is pretty easy if you really don't like it, especially in a tank that small.

Sent from my VS840 4G using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Prince]

I had some petco sand and it floated and I had a tough time getting it all to sink... Maybe they've changed it a bit?

Yeah it does that some times. Sometimes the grains don't break the surface tension of the water until it's agitated.

 

[Thai]

Only use pfs, one brand in particular I use has a woman diving in the bag, use to get it at namco pool supply in glen burnie but they re out of business

 

[YSS]

Looks good to me.