What Color Of Sand?

[doraemon213]

Newbie here, planning for a 20 gallon tank. I am definitely going to get a school of panda cories. I have not decided on the other fish in the tank yet, but I am pretty sure it will be something colorful (along the lines of guppies, gourami, or betta). Planning to have live plants and wood as well.
 
 
So, what color of sand substrate do you think would look best? Also, do you guys have a favorite type/brand of sand?

 

[Blondielovesfish]

I think that black sand would look the best against the the panda cories and the plants.

 

[zoopkamol]

+1 blondie
never go wrong with black sand ...absolutley love black sand...only drawback is price...but for a 20gal tank 1 bag will be enough.
black with plants and pandas and a red/blue betta would be stunning.
 
even paint or cover back of tank with black and colors will POP!!
 
also if you do go forth with 20gal or any tank ...please read up on fishless cycling...think blondies link would be a great place to start, and also check the cycling main topic thread.
I am a seasoned fish guy and I read and quite enjoyed info in main topic thread...so please read and ask questions here before you buy your first fish.
 
Oh and welcome to the forum!!

 

[Ninjouzata]

I am not sure how good it is although I have read on a different forum that it is fine to use.
 
http/www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?cm_vc=-10005&catalogId=10051&urlRequestType=Base&productId=14286&errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&langId=-1&storeId=10151
 
Not sure if that link will work or not but it's black diamond blasting sand from tractor supply company 50 lbs for 7.99, much more than you would need >.<

 

[doraemon213]

Cool! I guess I will get black sand!
 
After some searching, it seems to come down to Ninouzata's suggestion of black diamond sand vs tahitan moon sand... Which would work better for the cories?
 
Also, how many pounds should I get for a 20 gallon tall?

 

[Blondielovesfish]

The finest sand out of the two will be the best for the Cories.
There are many sand calculators on the net so you can google it. The Cichlid forum one is good

 

[fluttermoth]

I'll just say that, if you have dark/black sand, you might find your pandas go much darker to blend in.
 
I haven't kept my pandas on dark sand, but I've kept my adolfois on both and they're much darker bodied on the dark sand.

 

[daizeUK]

I've heard of cories getting hurt on black sand because it's actually sharp pieces of volcanic glass?  I don't know if that's true for all brands of black sand

 

[fluttermoth]

I had some black sand that killed a load of my catfish
 
Turned out it was volcanic, so probably had sulfur in it, so do be careful. I went for a dark grey (the Pettex Roman 'black' sand) in the end; not quite the look I wanted, but at least my fish are safe.

 

[Lillefishy]

I'll just say that, if you have dark/black sand, you might find your pandas go much darker to blend in.
 
I haven't kept my pandas on dark sand, but I've kept my adolfois on both and they're much darker bodied on the dark sand.

My adolfoi have gone very dark in the body on black sand, my sterbai have gone almost black.
I have unipac limpopo, it's not quite black & has dark brown bits in it

 

[doraemon213]

Ah, after reading all your comments I looked it up more and also went to take a look at the different kind of sand (tan, white and black) of CaribSea brand at the local store.
 
Even though black sand looks great, it does look coarser than the other two, and seems a little less "natural" to me. White is the finest of the three, and my guess is that the panda cories would love that the most. I want the cories to be happy so I might go with white, or perhaps a mixture of tan and white.
 
Thanks for all your input!

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Sounds good!
I hope to see pics of the finished tank