Sand As Substrate, Pros/cons

[netcode]

Well it certainly has been a while since i have posted here. Been sitting back and watching the tank grow over the last few months. Battling algae and bga. All the fun stuff. Anyways I am planning on laying some new substrate as pea gravel just isn't working anymore. The substrate I am looking at is simply sand. I am wondering about some of the pros and cons of using sand as a substrate? I also have a concern using the sand, that is I have tiger barbs (which like to dig), will they dig deep enough to uproot the plants?

If anyone could address these topics or has any input I would appreciate it all

Thanks

 

[mikey12421]

Hey, this is a pretty good primer:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...3&hl=silica

- Mike

 

[paul-discus]

I changed to sand a month ago for my discus and corys and they love it. I used playsand bought at a builders yard 25k bag less than a fiver. I have no problems hoovering it and my plants are in pots so no problem there. I find it a lot cleaner than gravel and much more attractive.

 

[netcode]

paul, do you have any plants that are not in pots? If so do you have any issues with your fish digging them up? Also paul are you using anything else in the sand or just straight up sand?



mikey: thanks for the link, thats great info


After doing some reading I have some thoughts that I would like some feedback on. I am thinking of putting about two inches of pea gravel below the sand then topping the gravel with sand. My only worry is that the sand is going to fall down into the gravel and eventually it will all just be mixed. Is there some way to avoid this?