Amanda

I just bought a 55 gallon tank. I plan on having a freshwater tank. I also plan on using sand as my substrate - gravel isn't interesting to me. Any suggestions as to what kind of sand to use? Also, how to I prepare the sand?

Wolfgang8810

check at your local pool store and ask for filter sand. it is good to go right out of the bag. if you do use sand put it in your tank first or you will have a sandstorm in there. once it is in the tank put a plate on the bottom and pour water onto the plate so you dont disturb the sand too much. hope this helps.

Dino

This sand can also be found at the large home stores during the summer months.
It would probably be cheaper buying it there than at a pool shop.

sirdarksol

Pool filter sand is the way to go for a good, neutral substrate. I got the black stuff from the pet store, which is really neat, but a pain to work with.

I've personally become a big fan of EcoComplete (not quite sand, more of a soil), but that's largely because I like working with planted tanks.

MissMTS

I was going to suggest eco-complete as well just in case you want to have a planted tank. Even though I didn't want a planted tank at first, I wish I had used eco-complete as the substrate. Switching out the substrates are a pain in the "you know what" and now I am stuck using a liquid fertilizer in my tanks. You never know what you may want in the future. If you want to have a tank with African Cichlids, crushed coral is the best substrate to have because it naturally raises the pH. As far as looks go, I love the black moon sand that you can get from the LFS, but SDS is right- its a pain to work with! Its almost impossible to siphon your tank without sucking up the sand.

Dojella

I just switched from gravel to sand. I got my sand from Home Depot "Playground Sand". It has a lot of dust, so I put it in a large cooler in the bathtub, filled with water, stirred well, drained water out, and repeated several times. It looks really nice under fluorescent lighting. I really do like it better than the gravel. And now my dojo loaches can burrow. Play sand goes for about $5 for 50 lbs. I was able to do a 55 gallon and 3 gallon tank with about 1 1/2" sand in each with one 50 lb bag.

kingmed

bought my pool filter sand at renco for 6.99 for a 50 lb. bag, have it in my 55 and 29 looks great and the bottom dwellers love it.

mathas

It's worth it to decide now what type of fish you're going to want. Just like with gravel, you'll want to make sure you choose a sand with a more rounded grain if you plan to have bottom feeders like corydoras.

I used pool filter sand, and paid $8 per 50 lbs. It's worked out great for me, and I have live plants.

Be prepared to either see a lot of fish waste, or do very frequent substrate vacuums. I tend to vacuum mine every 2-3 days because I get tired of seeing a giant pile of fish poo where the current piles it all up at.