Ch4Rlies New 2.5 Feet Tank Journal

[RRaquariums]

Gonna look awesome

 

[Ch4rlie]

Now, need to bounce ideas off folks here

 
What I have in cupboard at the moment is the following -
 
Unipac Senegal Sand, think is 2.5 kg leftover from adding this into my 3 foot tank.
 
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:76648]
 
Nutrasoil, leftover about 4 kg from my high tech nano tank attempt

 
Unopened 5kg bag of Sanisbar Red sand

 
Unopened 5kg bag of Sanisbar Grey sand

 
What I was thinking along lines of was puting a thin layer of nutrasoil on the bottom, as good for plants, then mixing all three bags of sand together to make a unique sand colour, the sand is fine but the Senegal is a little coarser but only 2.5 kg and mixed up, would be neglible.
 
The mixed sand be put on top of the nutrasoil, like a capped dirt tank but with this speciality soil instead.
 
Hope that makes sense

 
I want to use up what I have otherwise a bit of a waste imo, but if its a bad idea then will shelve that and could get another 5 kg bag of Sansibar Red to make it more natural coloured all sand substrate.......
 

 

[Akasha72]

how about getting a good handful of each, chucking it a bucket, mixing well and then spreading it out of a tray or something. That way you can look at what it looks like before you mix up the whole lot. 
 
I might look really good or it might look really bad. You could lower the tray into the tank aswell and see how it looks under the lights before committing yourself

 

[Ch4rlie]

how about getting a good handful of each, chucking it a bucket, mixing well and then spreading it out of a tray or something. That way you can look at what it looks like before you mix up the whole lot. 
 
I might look really good or it might look really bad. You could lower the tray into the tank aswell and see how it looks under the lights before committing yourself

 
 
Ooh, i like that idea

 
Gonna try just that..........after me dinner of course

 

[Akasha72]

glad to be of service lol

 

[Ch4rlie]

This sand mixing experiment is not working out as hoped

 
  Full shot of my experiment mixes.
 
Taking from right to left as in pic above...
 
Mixed 2 scoops of each, 2x senegal sand, 2x red and 2x grey
 
    Senegal sand unmixed (same as in my 3 foot tank)
 
    Sanisbar Red unmixed, surprsingly pink :x
 
     Sanisbar Grey unmixed
 
   1x scoop of each red & senegal mixed
 
  1x scoop of red & grey
 
2x scoops red and 1x scoop grey
 
 
The pics are not the best in the world, but gives a good idea how they have turned out.
 
The first mix is kinda ugh, looks like dirty substrate, senegal sand and red is not bad, but hmm, and the grey & red mix is not there, the 2 x red and grey is marginally better but......

 

[LyraGuppi]

I quite like the one in the glass tray. Looks really natural.

 

[TallTree01]

The red one might look cool in a tank. Especially when contrasting green plants.

 

[Akasha72]

I like the grey unmixed and I don't mind the 1 scoop red and grey either... but then I like dark substrates. I wanted pure black in mine and I ordered black sand but it came as washed out grey. In the end I had no other choice but to use it and I don't mind it. I don't love it, but it's okay.
 
What I did find was - when I had play sand the tank seemed really bright, almost too bright and not easy on the eye for me being light sensitive. The fish colours seemed washed out too. When I got the 240 I decided I didn't want that 'look' any more and went with the black sand and it's easier on my eyes and the fish colours 'pop' again... and not just the fish colours either. The plant colours seem to stand out more against a dark background and dark substrate.
 
At the end of the day Ch4rlie it's your choice. Your the one looking at it every day

 

[daizeUK]

I agree with LyraGuppi, the tray looks natural.

 

[Ch4rlie]

I quite like the one in the glass tray.

Looks really natural.

I agree with LyraGuppi, the tray looks natural.

 
Whilst it may look sort of natural, the pic actually looks better than the real thing

 
It is kinda too dark and not quite the 'look' I was hoping for.
 
 

The red one might look cool in a tank.

Especially when contrasting green plants.

 
The red one is actually pink under water

in the bag, its a nice shade of red/brown, in the water it changes to pinkish sort of colour, no way do I want pink substrate

 
 

I like the grey unmixed and I don't mind the 1 scoop red and grey either... but then I like dark substrates. I wanted pure black in mine and I ordered black sand but it came as washed out grey. In the end I had no other choice but to use it and I don't mind it. I don't love it, but it's okay.
 
What I did find was - when I had play sand the tank seemed really bright, almost too bright and not easy on the eye for me being light sensitive. The fish colours seemed washed out too. When I got the 240 I decided I didn't want that 'look' any more and went with the black sand and it's easier on my eyes and the fish colours 'pop' again... and not just the fish colours either. The plant colours seem to stand out more against a dark background and dark substrate.
 
At the end of the day Ch4rlie it's your choice. Your the one looking at it every day

 
I actually lik the grey myself too, but not for this tank, perhaps for the 10 gal if I set that up again one day.
 
Bright substrate is exactly what I do not want, and under bright tank lights, everything does look kinda washed out and pale. Does not bring out the best colours in fish and plant. A great tip there.
 
And indeed, you're quite correct, it me and the GF who will be looking at this tank everyday so think its worth taking a little time to ponder over this rather than rushing into something I may regret.
 
Thanks to everyone so far for their opinions, it does help me to bounce idea off and get a general idea of what appeals best

 

[TallTree01]

Pink sand.
The fish would be very confused I think.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Pink sand.

The fish would be very confused I think.

 
Never mind the fish, I'D be very confused

 

[Akasha72]

 

Pink sand.

The fish would be very confused I think.

 
Never mind the fish, I'D be very confused

 

 
 
lol!!! 

 
 
I've just been to MA at York to see if I could get some more of my unipac sand to top up around my plants. I'm not sure if it helps any but the small bags of unipac are just over £4 at the moment - less than I expected it to be for MA (knowing they can be pricey) 
 
I just thought I'd pass it on in case it was useful info

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Be careful when mixing sands. Pay attention to the grain size of any sand to go into a mix. If you mix a fine and a courser sand what you end up with is a tighly packed substrate. This make it more difficult for plants to root. Bear in mund that what makes concrete strong is a graded series of sand and gravel. The spaces between the crushed rock get filled by smaller gravel and the spaces between these pieces get filled by sand, The cement just holds it all together,
 
The other thing is that if you have any fish that root around in the substrate, over time you get separation. Vacuuming can promote this as well. Basically when you pull some sand int to tube or when fish cause the sand to rise a bit into the water column, the larger grains, being heavier, fall back faster than the smaller ones and the process of moving the bigger size under the smaller size begins. I had very large gravel over fluorite in a tank, about a 50/50 mix by depth. Over time I got piles of fluorite on top of the stones.
 
Most sand, gravel and crushed rock is sold by grain, pebble or rock size so you should be able to get information of the grain sizes for the sand with which you are experimenting.