What substrate you should use

[Thewilderview]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcfe4wn-j_M

[BettaGuy]

Silica sand is really cheap too. I bought a 20kg bag for 7.99$ (Canadian). With silica sand you also know that it is safe after you rinsed it, and theres no "chance" that it will mess around with your water chemistry since it is only pure silicone which is what sand is made up of I think.

[Cory1990]

5$ for silica sand here in USA 3-5$ for play sand. I like both but silica sand looks cleaner. I still have gravle in a few tanks but am slowly swapping to sand only. It's so much easier to clean then gravle because everything sits on the top and filters pick up almost everything.

[BettaGuy]

Silica over play sand definitely. The few dollars don't make a difference and play sand really is much dirtier. I also like cleaning sand more than gravel because of the cleaning aspect. Siphoning the poop of the sand is a piece of cake, while with gravel you really have to get in there good.

[Cory1990]

I agree I love being able to just go over the top of the sand to clean it. My filters in all my tanks exspect one (planted) tank pick everything up off the top of the sand. Best thing I ever did was find out about the powers of sand lol.

As for the type

depending on decoration and theam you can chose from both

Planted tank = white silica sand
Goldfish tank with Milwaukee river shells =black silica sand
African tank lots of rocks=tan play sand
Misc. tanks =play sand mixed with silica sand

Both look good colors you can get

Silica=white
Black silica=black with shiny crystals
Play sand=nice tan/black/white

Play sand is more natural sand as silica sand is man made for sand blasting. I love both and I'll never buy rocks again. One pound of gravel from a fish store costs more then a 5lb bag of sand.

So now that no one asked this, what do you plan on keeping in the tank??

[BettaGuy]

That list you made is great Cory, but it comes down to personal preference. All the different types of silica and play sand work for all types of aquariums. To you it might look the best the way you described, but in the end he will probably get whatever colour he likes. I agree with the white silica sand in a planted aquarium though, especially when you add a piece of driftwood.

[Redhead305]

where could i get black silica sand though

[BettaGuy]

I really think online would be the best option if close by hardware stores don't have any. But with shipping (sand is super heavy) the cost is gonna go up a lot, especially for 100lb.

[Cory1990]

Hardware stores will have it and it's pretty cheap. I got a bag for under 10$ and was enough to fill my 55 gallon

[BettaGuy]

My hardware store didn't have any silica sand, so I dunno. I just said that the price would go up cause of shipping cause while sand might be cheap, it is really heavy.

[Cory1990]

They should, ask for sand blasting sand and they could have it. Or go to menards is my hardware store I go to and they have both colors.

[Redhead305]

i found a local producer they are selling 100lb bag at 10$ a piece =D im buying a bag for the 90g tommrow after work i can't wait and i got the activated carbon today for the filter

[BettaGuy]

I only have a small hardware store nearby and I asked them for pool filter sand. I guess I didn't ask for sand blasting sand, I'll do that when I get back home. I got a pool supply store reasonably close by and the prices arent too bad.

[Redhead305]

betta make sure you get rounded silica or a grit that isnt to sharp

[Obsidian]

Hey Cory- the stuff that you got from your local hardware store- what did it look like? Does it have the more rounded grains? If so put up the name brand here so people can know what is a good silica to look out for. Some of the blasting ones can be pretty harsh but I am betting there has to be nice ones out there somewhere. White isn't hard to find a good grain for, but other colors get harder.