Sand Substrate and Live Plants

I'm new to this and wanted white sand substrate but also fancy some live plants. Am I better to just use a different substrate or is the fertilising of the sand relatively easy?

White sand is not advised by a large percentage of fish keepers, it is unnatural for fish to have a white base for them not to blend into.

Good to know so whats the best alternative?

Personally I just use play sand, in the UK from Argos. Others use products from Tropica I think but the nutrients deteriorate after a year anyway, so you’d have to continue using fertiliser anyway or change the substrate. @Byron is knowledgeable as is @essjay on this

It's just been discovered more recently that since fish evolved living over darker substrates, that many species find the bright white of the light substrates stressful, which can dull their colours too. Also that it can affect their eyesight, especially with the fake looking, brilliant white sands (and we're talking tropical fish from lakes and rivers at the moment, not marine fish and marine sand). The tank lights reflect quite blindingly on those very white substrates, so more hobbyists are turning to darker and more natural substrates, trying to replicate fishes natural environments and show them at their best too.

Lighter coloured substrates aren't automatically bad though, if it's a more natural sand colour, with flecks of grey, brown, orange etc, and isn't that brilliant, fresh paint white, then it's not so bad. But also worth considering that most tropical fish are from riversand lakes, that have plants and overhanging vegetation, so bright lights and an exposed water surface can stress them out. Floating plants like frogbit or salvinia help provide that cover that helps them feel secure, and shade them from bright aquarium lights. We have to try to balance the lower lighting many fish prefer, with our own perfectly natural desire to be able to see them! And what lighting plants will need if you're going with live plants.

If you go with a darker substrate, aim for browns or very dark grey, rather than a pure black dyed one, since a pure black substrate is also unnatural, although at least not potentially blinding like the brilliant whites.

I liked the look of the very white sand substrates too, but changed my mind and got what's called black limpopo sand in the end, and really happy I did. It's a slate grey with flecks rather than a real black colour, and the fish show really well against it, makes their colours pop, as well as the plants. This is what I went for in the end;


Just try to avoid sand like this;

Looks nice to us, not so nice to the fish. Even in this photo the neons and cardinals look washed out and pale, nor the brilliant blues and reds they're known for.

Sorry, yes, fertilising the sand is easy, you just add root tabs beneath plants that are root feeders like vallis and amazon swords, and liquid ferts are good for plants that feed from the water column. I'd like to try a special planted substrate sometime, mainly for aquascaping reasons, but they are messier and can affect your water chemistry, leeching ammonia into the water column, and they also run out of nutrients eventually too, requiring root tabs and liquid ferts just like sand or gravel would, so you don't need to have soil or planted tank substrate in order to have a planted tank.

@mbsqw1d tank in his signature is a sand substrate, and you can see he grows plants really well in sand!

On the opposite end, many use black blasting sand in aquariums. It is relatively cheap. This stuff is ground up coal slag which sounds very nasty, below is a link on the stuff.

The Honest Truth About Black Diamond Blasting Sand Safety in Aquarium

Note: use care if mixing substrates. If the grain size is different, they will quickly separate creating layers.

madmark285 said:

On the opposite end, many use black blasting sand in aquariums. It is relatively cheap. This stuff is ground up coal slag which sounds very nasty, below is a link on the stuff.

The Honest Truth About Black Diamond Blasting Sand Safety in Aquarium

Note: use care if mixing substrates. If the grain size is different, they will quickly separate creating layers.

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I'm not sold by that write-up if I'm honest, but that's just me. He states its 'completely inert' but then goes on to say it can slightly raise your PH. How if its 100% inert? Also he's stating its ok for corydoras when he has only tested it with plecos. Play sand is safe as its put through extra processing so that there are 0 sharp grains ensuring its safety to be played with by kids (who often play with stuff by eating it!). I'd love for it to be the answer as I'm currently on the lookout for a darker substrate and don't want to have to get a loan out to pay for it!

mbsqw1d said:

I'm not sold by that write-up if I'm honest, but that's just me. He states its 'completely inert' but then goes on to say it can slightly raise your PH. How if its 100% inert? Also he's stating its ok for corydoras when he has only tested it with plecos. Play sand is safe as its put through extra processing so that there are 0 sharp grains ensuring its safety to be played with by kids (who often play with stuff by eating it!). I'd love for it to be the answer as I'm currently on the lookout for a darker substrate and don't want to have to get a loan out to pay for it!

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Ummm, slightly off the topic, is play sand = kinetic sand?

BoomerXIV said:

Ummm, slightly off the topic, is play sand = kinetic sand?

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Ah, no as in the sand you'd put in a sand pit

mbsqw1d said:

I'm not sold by that write-up if I'm honest, but that's just me. He states its 'completely inert' but then goes on to say it can slightly raise your PH. How if its 100% inert?

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Good point. My intent was not to make a recommendation, just passing along possible alternatives.

What are some viable options if you want a darker substrate? Locally I can get Quikrete play sand or pool filter sand ($12/50 pounds) but both are very light in color.

Diab2005 said:

I'm new to this and wanted white sand substrate but also fancy some live plants. Am I better to just use a different substrate or is the fertilising of the sand relatively easy?

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Just to be confusing, here is a link on CEC of Substrates - Specifically Eco-Complete which discusses the ability of substrate absorbing nutrients (CEC).

So the question I have to the experts on using root tab with play sand, where do the nutrients go after the root tabs have dissolved? Do they enter the water column or stay in the substrate?

For myself, Eco-complete is too expensive for a 75 gallon tank and I already have a nice red gravel which I want to use. On paper, I like the concept of Eco-complete, the ability to absorb nutrients, so I may use a compromise solution, use Eco-complete in areas with root feeding plants, regular gravel for water column plants (Java moss for example).

FYI, I been watching the The Water Box channel on Youtube, he has a good sense of humor and is more down to earth compared to the "ADA aquascapers" with unlimited budgets. WTF, an ADA stainless steel canister filter cost over $500.

BoomerXIV said:

Ummm, slightly off the topic, is play sand = kinetic sand?

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From Amazon:

Kinetic Sand Beach Sand never dries out, clean up is a breeze, and it's made with natural sand - plus a little bit of magic! Feel the difference with Kinetic Sand!

So what is the "little bit of magic" in kinetic sand? Doesn't sound good for fish.

Play sand is use for sand boxes for kids or by cats to crap in, my kids sand box turned into a big litter box.

Definitely not for fish tanks

madmark285 said:

Good point. My intent was not to make a recommendation, just passing along possible alternatives.

What are some viable options if you want a darker substrate? Locally I can get Quikrete play sand or pool filter sand ($12/50 pounds) but both are very light in color.

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@Byron has mentioned different shades of that quikrete sand before, i believe there's a grey one?