Substrate - which is better?

[MsGardeness]

Gravel or Sand? What would the pros and cons of each be? And to finish off... can they be combined in one tank?

[CanadaPleco]

I say sand 100%, it stays way cleaner, looks more natural and I think the fish seem to like it better. I find gravel a pain in the butt to keep clean and will never for back to gravel myself.

[Romulous]

I second that !!! have been using sand now for about 16 yrs or more

[budahrox]

Yep, sand for me as well.
Cheers!!!

[Bwhiskered]

Sand is the way to go. Fish waste and food get down in gravel and cause nothing but problems.

[MsGardeness]

Wow - it's unanimous! Thank you all. Okay - I too will go with sand. And I'll check out the TSC stores for sandblasting sand. I don't suppose colour makes any difference? I'm kind of partial to black but if tan colour is better - I can change my mind real quick! ;) How much does a 77g tank need?

[CanadaPleco]

one 50lb bag should be more then enough for that size tank. You only need to go about an inch deep. Colour is totally personal choice, I have had black before in a few tanks, but changed it out and now use a redish tan colour. Have also used just regular play sand from Lowes and it looked nice as well, very natural look to it as its just tan/brown.

[Zebrapl3co]

Sand for me too. Most of my plecos hate gravels. I use the white silica sand for the interlock. Just becareful with blasting sand. They tend to be sharper (for the purpose of sand blasting) and can scratch up a baby pleco pretty badly.

[MsGardeness]

Thanks for the points re colour and sandblasting sand sharpness - important as all I have are a bunch of 1" fry. I think I'd like to try two colours and layer them. Saw it in a pic - low in the center and higher on both sides - VERY nice! Maybe black sandblasting on the bottom and tan/brown play sand on top...? About an inch of each?

[bcarlos]

The problem with layering is that as you siphon the sand, it's naturally going to get mixed up. I don't think it's sustainable.

I also prefer sand. Colour depends on the fish. Reds and golds look awesome on a black substrate, darker plec's look cool on a lighter substrate IMO

[MsGardeness]

Hmmm I guess I'll stick with one colour then. Most of my fish are lighter coloured. Can anyone post pics of their tanks with various coloured sand?

[CanadaPleco]

few pics of my tank here with the redish tan colour
http://www.canadapleco.com/showthread.php?t=1443

[Romulous]

Pic of the blackish sandblasting sand in my custom background tank is here http://www.canadapleco.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1187&d=1269614861

[budahrox]

I don't know what supplies out east are like but
the 3M Color Quartz S-Grade sand is really nice.
It's been discontinued but some is still around out here.
T-Grade is also too sharp & I think would be risky.
I wish I could find enough of it & I'd change all my tanks to it.
Been selling out here on sale to clear out for $20 a 50lb bag through Steels
Any Steels out there??? You may want to check it out, I'd recommend it!!
Cheers!!!

[CanadaPleco]

There is still some Quartz 3M stuff around here in Ontario. Generally it runs about $35/50lb bag. I too would like more of it for some tanks.

[MsGardeness]

Thanks for the pics of your tanks - very nice!

I just saw a pic of black 3M Color Quartz S-Grade sand in a tank and it looks amazing, but I understand it has an oily substance in it that needs to be rinsed out first...? Did you have to rinse it for a long time? I'm hearing of others rinsing it for 2 and 3 days and then it still has the oiliness when it goes into the tank so they've used filter floss and carbon to eliminate the oil. Is that how you began to use it in your tank(s)?

[budahrox]

The blk is the worst of all the colors to rinse but also the best looking finish!!
The trick is to the rinse small amounts with as hot of water as your hands can stand.
Only use buckets you won't need again as it leaves a residue & wear rubber gloves. (saves scrubbing time on the hands later.
If any oily is left it's OK, doesn't harm the fish at all.
Other colors aren't that bad to rinse.
Well worth the effort though.
Cheers!!!

[matti2uude]

You can get the 3m colorquartz from here too
http://www.grpoolmarbelite.com/contact.shtml
contact Carlo for the sand.

[MsGardeness]

Thank you all so much - I've just sent an email to Carlo. I can easily pick up from that location on my way home from work in Toronto. Now if only the darn lid would arrive. :|

[2wheelsx2]

Well not quite unanimous, as I use gravel in one tank and planted substrate in 2 tanks (Eco-complete black, Florabase). :D

You have to keep in mind that a dark substrate will cause your plecos to darken up, so depending on the fish (L91, L128) they will look better with dark substrate, but if you have lighter coloured plecos (L075, L273, L114) they may look better with brown.

I like having gravel and the coarser substrates with plants, but if you don't have plants, I'd go with sand also.

For example, here is one of my L273 on gravel (also an L200 and L340):

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_92IVadGjH2w/S9JIDEJi9SI/AAAAAAAABvo/LGBBYrpMDMo/s400/DSC_1770.JPG

[MsGardeness]

Thanks for all the comments and thoughts about the substrate. I'm finally going to pick up a bag of black 3M Colorquartz s-grade this afternoon from Carlo.

Can hardly wait to start the hot-rinsing... oh joy, oh bliss or at least I hope it is when all is said and done! ;)

[CanadaPleco]

:) dont forget to post some pics once you get it in the tank for us!

[MsGardeness]

:) dont forget to post some pics once you get it in the tank for us!

Better yet - I'll invite you all over for an 'aquarium warming party'!!

[tobalman]

I used 3M S grade black before, they are very good. but remember, they are very light so make sure you wash them in a bucket in the garden let the water run through them a few times. after you wash and put these sand in your tank fill the water but DON'T turn on your filter for a few days just let it sit there or your filter impeller maybe damage by these tiny grain if you didn't allow enough time for these sand to settle down.

[MsGardeness]

Oooh - that's a great tip about letting it sit in the aquarium for a few days before turning on the filter. But why wash outside in the garden? I thought we had to use as hot water as our hands could stand in order to get the oily residue off/out...washing very small amounts at one time. No?

[CanadaPleco]

Oooh - that's a great tip about letting it sit in the aquarium for a few days before turning on the filter. But why wash outside in the garden? I thought we had to use as hot water as our hands could stand in order to get the oily residue off/out...washing very small amounts at one time. No?
I have never used hot water to clean 3m sand before and never had any problems. But that's just my experience.

[tobalman]

You don't need hot water, just wear latex gloves, I wash them all at once, let the water run through these sand until it look clean, you don't want to dirty your sink or bathtub right ?

[MsGardeness]

The blk is the worst of all the colors to rinse but also the best looking finish!!
The trick is to the rinse small amounts with as hot of water as your hands can stand.
Only use buckets you won't need again as it leaves a residue & wear rubber gloves. (saves scrubbing time on the hands later.
If any oily is left it's OK, doesn't harm the fish at all.
Other colors aren't that bad to rinse.
Well worth the effort though.
Cheers!!!

This is one of the posts (including other forums) that say there is an 'oily residue' in the black Colorquartz sand. I guess I'll find out this weekend. I will give it a go for a small quantity (a couple of pounds) of the stuff and if it's oily, I'll use hot water. If I don't see any oily stuff, then I'll do the rest of it with cool/cold water. I do have a pair of rubber "pond gloves" from my neighbour that go up to your shoulder and stay up with elastic cuffs.

I'm getting anxious to get this stuff into the aquarium and have it finally cycle and get the darn fish into it... though I figure the end result is still several weeks away. I guess we just can't rush a good thing.

[MsGardeness]

Oh heck - I can't wait for the weekend, I'm going to try to rinse a little now as a trial run and see what happens.

[MsGardeness]

Well if that's all there is to it - it's almost a breeze. I put a couple of cups of sand into a bucket and ran cold water, swooshed it around and then poured most of it off and then ran hot water and repeated. I don't think the water temperature makes much if any difference. It's such a fine sand - quite amazing really. There's a bit of black film around the inside bottom of the bucket and on the gloves - but it's not much. I guess it wouldn't be for a couple of cups of sand. Ooooh I can't wait to get it all done and into the tank!