Black sand?

Matt

As most of you know I am Getting a 50 Hex in a Few weeks.

If I get Black Sand:

Will it Need to be stirred up often?
or Will the 4 or 5 cory cats stir it up enough?
Never had Black sand Before so where do I buy it?
How thick of a sand bed should there be?(I like it thick)
How many pounds should I buy?(depending on the thickness)
If it is thicker will I have to stir it up Even more?

any answers will be helpful....thanks

daisycutter

treat black sand in exactly the same manner as normal sand its simply made from a different type of rock (lava)usally avalible from aqatic centers but it is 6x the price of normal sand i find cories stir it up(sand) only to a certain depth i let heavy rooted plants do the rest

Amphitrite

Yep, agree with everything daisycutter said, and it is very expensive.

I really wanted to go for black sand in my tank, but couldn't afford it at the time :(

Daz

I have black sand in my 110gs, treat it just as normal. I went for a 2" bed, but then again I dont have plants. A 2" bed in a 5' x 2' is about 100kg.

soco1125

Ya'll think Malaysian trumpet snails would help stir it up too?

Lupin

Yes, they do.

Holly

I don't know much about snails besides I had about 40 of them in my tank before getting my clown loaches. Do the Trumpet Snails multiply as quickly as the little ones that we on the plants that I bought at PetSmart that were suppose to be snailess? They would also help clean up extra waste in the water as well correct?

soco1125

I just put some in my tank. Supposedly they reproduce pretty quickly. They spend most of the time burrowing through the substrate eating algae and detritus. Loaches would eat enough to keep the population in check, but not enough to wipe them out completely.

sazzy

i paid quite abit for my black silt/grain (thicker than sand)
and found that the fishes colours seemed dimmer less attractive, so i ruined it by adding white silt/grain, and last week i had to put some white coral gravel in (to help with PH).
but i prefer the lighter gravel as the fishes colours show up soo much more :D