Sand for bettas? Recommendations.

I bought a tank divider awhile back because I wanted to get rid of my ugly hex 5 gallon that housed one of the bettas, and was just going to put both of them in the 10 gallon. Divider was too small for both of my 10 gallons (one of them was being used as my snail tank) so I ended up just putting the 5 gallon betta in with all the snails. He's quickly being overrun (was originally used for breeding mystery snails, but turned into breeding ground for pest bladder snails the fiance won't let me get rid of) and I sadly don't have room for another tank (they are currently both sitting on kitchen counter). I was looking into buying a new gallon with the proper dimensions for the divider (even if I have to bring it to store and open a box to try it out) and instead of moving everything from the main 10 gallon, I was thinking of just redoing everything. New plants, new wood, new substrate. I would like to make it look as natural as possible instead of using the fluval stratum I have currently, and was looking for recommendations.

So sand. I'm looking at getting sponge filter instead of the usual hang on back I use because I'm worried the filter would just constantly kick up sand (it moves my fluval stratum more than I'd like as well). Is there a particular brand of sand that is a bit... heavier? In case I do still use my h.o.b? Ideally, I'd not like the sand to be flowing around, sitting on top of plants, getting in eyes of the fish, etc. As it is, my fluval stratum dust is always sitting on top of my anubias and it just looks dirty. I also want to be sure that when I pour my water in after a water change that it's not going to cloud up the water every time. Do bettas even LIKE sand? Will my anubias still grow? I know really big rocks, or really tiny sand can cause issues in plant growth. I would do a layer of gravel, and then sand on top, but I know it will mix and I have horrible ocd and when it mixes, I know I will just want to redo it all again. Although... I guess a mix would be a bit more natural. And that IS what I'm going for. I was also wondering about almond leaves. I wanted to throw a few in but was worried about tannins. I like my water clear. Is sand going to affect that at all?

Should I just stick to the fluval stratum I have now? I DO like the black and the pop of green my anubias brings to it. I just don't know.

Now is the time to show off your tanks if you want to! Any ideas really would be heard lol

 

I use BDBS. $8 for a 50lbs bag. Lots of people use this or PSF around here at the pool stores it’s like 75lbs for $12.
I’m not sure substrate matters, sand vs rock, for a betta... someone else will have to weigh in on that

 

I prefer sand, all my bettas are with sand. It just seems easier to clean and looks nicer IMO. I use play sand, pool filter sand, or black/white sand. All look nice but the play sand was the cheapest and looks the most natural. The plants seem to like it too.

 

I use BDBS. $8 for a 50lbs bag. Lots of people use this or PSF around here at the pool stores it’s like 75lbs for $12.
I’m not sure substrate matters, sand vs rock, for a betta... someone else will have to weigh in on that

Do your plants stay in the sand pretty good or do you get a lot of floating? Is there a particular brand, or should I just google BDBS? What kind of filtration do you have/does it ever clog it up?

 

I prefer sand, all my bettas are with sand. It just seems easier to clean and looks nicer IMO. I use play sand, pool filter sand, or black/white sand. All look nice but the play sand was the cheapest and looks the most natural. The plants seem to like it too.

Easier to clean is good lol. Does it move around a lot when gravel vacuuming? Do you ever have issues with sand clogging filter? Do your bettas like to lay on the ground? Every once in awhile mine will be on the moss balls, but generally they sleep laying on the substrate and I worry about sand in gills.

 

Do your plants stay in the sand pretty good or do you get a lot of floating? Is there a particular brand, or should I just google BDBS? What kind of filtration do you have/does it ever clog it up?

The majority stay. Some will float but only if I didn’t get them in the sand properly or if they haven’t rooted. And I learned an easy fix for that was to put a bio ring on the bottom of the stem and it’ll keep it from floating until it roots.

I got BDBS, black diamond blasting sand, from tractor supply

I have a HOB with a coarse pre filter sponge so any large debris will hang on to the sponge and I just shake it off in tank water each water change.

Edit: I’m sure there’s other ways to keep plants from floating though, I just haven’t gone searching quite yet!

 

My bettas mostly sleep in the plants, no the sand doesn't get in the filters, yes the sand can be a pain when vacuuuming but a quick stop with a finger of the tube lets the sand fall back down.

As for sand getting in their gills, remember that bettas come from fairly shallow, swampy areas full of silt and muck. I doubt sand will bother them.

 

I got BDBS, black diamond blasting sand, from tractor supply

Do you get the medium (black print on bag) or the fine (red print on bag)? Or is this even it at all lol. I see it says product must stay dry so maybe that's not it? That's just what came up when I typed it in the search. I'm completely clueless when it comes to sand, my bad!

 

Do you get the medium (black print on bag) or the fine (red print on bag)? Or is this even it at all lol. I see it says product must stay dry so maybe that's not it? That's just what came up when I typed it in the search. I'm completely clueless when it comes to sand, my bad!

I get the medium grit black print!!
it says stay dry if your using it for sand blasting.

 

Hi! It looks like there is already a lot of replies in support of sand but I too must endorse sand substrate! I have two tanks going currently, one gravel and one sand, and I must say- the sand one stays substantially cleaner. Snail poo and other just sits on the surface making for super easy vacuum cleanup (just be cautious of sucking up too much sand in the process). My sand tank is a 5 gal Aqueon Ascent which has the hang-on-the-back filter you mentioned, and I've had no issues with it stirring up sand. As for adding water after water changes, I avoid kicking up sand by pouring the water onto the log that sits in the tank OR pouring the water onto my *clean* hand over the tank. This disperses the water stream enough to not disturb the substrate. I've never noticed sand stuck to my betta, but occasionally I will see some sand on my snail. I also use almond leaves in this tank and the water stays tea colored.

 

Thanks everyone <3 I went out to get the 10 gallon tank I needed to fit my divider I got months ago.. and ended up getting another betta. So now I have 3 10 gallon tanks in my kitchen lol, and a new betta! A male koi named Swim Shady. I also ended up getting black sand. So far so good. I still need a filter (ordered sponge filters, one for each side of tank) but should be here in a few days. Doesn't seem to bother the bettas so far, and planting is DEFINITELY easier than when I was using gravel, caribsea eco-complete, or the fluval stratum I have in the other tanks currently.

 

Do your plants stay in the sand pretty good or do you get a lot of floating? Is there a particular brand, or should I just google BDBS? What kind of filtration do you have/does it ever clog it up?

BDBS isn't sand. It's coal slag. The melted residue byproduct of coal burned at extreme temps. It's illegal for coal burning plants to dump it anywhere runoff can get into waterways or ground water so they sell it as blasting sand. It's very effective at that. The particles are razor sharp and rough edged so work really well stripping paint off of anything. Much more effective than silica sand they used to use until it was banned for that use. Just saying, I wouldn't use coal slag in my tanks...

 

It says coal slag right on the bag. But my bag had zero sharp pieces. I washed the stuff for quite a while with my bare hands and had no damage done. I guess it could be different with other bags. But I got the suggestion for it from quite a few people on here!
my Cories are also enjoying it and they have their barbels and no damage.

 

It says coal slag right on the bag. But my bag had zero sharp pieces. I washed the stuff for quite a while with my bare hands and had no damage done. I guess it could be different with other bags. But I got the suggestion for it from quite a few people on here!
my Cories are also enjoying it and they have their barbels and no damage.

I know. Do any commercial products bother Cory's barbels? Do they bother your hands when you wash them? I just think it's really strange that people, even experts, who have kept fish for decades and will give a person grief over putting the wrong fish together, not doing enough water changes etc. but will jump in and put something the EPA treats like a toxin, that is not approved or even sold as a material to be used in any aquatic environment (even pools)-in their tank. BDBS contains materials that vary from one coal burning plant to another depending on what other contaminants are present. These plants can't dispose of the stuff, it's sold as blasting sand and so, gets disseminated into the environment that way.
Here's one person who used BDBS (another person who used BDBS, lost a fancy goldfish with similar black residue in gills but I can't find that posting) and did have problems. Maybe it was BDBS, maybe it wasn't. Haven't heard back from her. Look closely at the slides.
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...dden-deaths-of-seemingly-healthy-fish.386447/The NIH analysis of coal slag:
https://misuse.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/error/abuse.shtmlAn article about general groundwater pollution by coal ash/slag:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/contamination-report-coal-plant-groundwater-unsafe.ampI would never use it for anything and never would suggest its use in an aquarium and try to discourage it.

 

I know. Do any commercial products bother Cory's barbels? Do they bother your hands when you wash them? I just think it's really strange that people, even experts, who have kept fish for decades and will give a person grief over putting the wrong fish together, not doing enough water changes etc. but will jump in and put something the EPA treats like a toxin, that is not approved or even sold as a material to be used in any aquatic environment (even pools)-in their tank. BDBS contains materials that vary from one coal burning plant to another depending on what other contaminants are present. These plants can't dispose of the stuff, it's sold as blasting sand and so, gets disseminated into the environment that way.
Here's one person who used BDBS (another person who used BDBS, lost a fancy goldfish with similar black residue in gills but I can't find that posting) and did have problems. Maybe it was BDBS, maybe it wasn't. Haven't heard back from her. Look closely at the slides.
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...dden-deaths-of-seemingly-healthy-fish.386447/The NIH analysis of coal slag:
https://misuse.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/error/abuse.shtmlAn article about general groundwater pollution by coal ash/slag:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/contamination-report-coal-plant-groundwater-unsafe.ampI would never use it for anything and never would suggest its use in an aquarium and try to discourage it.

Yes I can understand that!

 

I ended up getting Imagitarium Black Sand Aquatic Substrate from Petco. I don't know how different it is from BDBS but it didn't seem sharp at all. Thanks for all the info about it!