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Sand, soil, or some kind of dirt for new aquarium?

6K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  redchigh 
#1 ·
Hello, sorry to start a thread over this topic but I was wondering. I want to set up a (wide) 20 gallon amazon tank this christmas. I want to have the most beneficial terrain I can. I was always wondering how to put sand-looking stuff in your aquarium without just making a giant thick cloud of mess everytime you touch the bottom. (BTW I want to have either albino (bronze) or pygmy corydoras in the tank.)

Any help on how to setup the substrate and/or what types of plants go well with an amazon tank will be appreciated! Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Thick sand? Play sand? Corse sand? Gardening soil? Anybody have any links on the topic?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
#3 ·
I have play sand in my tanks (well, 4 of the 6) and I love it! So do my fish. It doesn't stir easily when I vac - just takes a little practice.

In my cichlid tank (south Americans) I am growing swords, thin val and anubias. My severum loves to eat the swords, so watch that if you want to keep your plants perfect. lol. The fish leave the anubias alone, though. And the val is so fast growing that you don't notice a bit bitten off. :)

Lots of driftwood, too.
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#4 ·
Thanks! I set it up with play sand.:-D
 
#6 ·
Isn't there some risk to doing your DIY, redchigh?
 
#8 ·
I have seen your thread before but I am not sure where to find it.

Would you post a link?:-D
 
#10 · (Edited)
What? Byron has a substrate guide? What are you suggesting I read? I am not sure what you mean.

I see the link in the sig now. Are you recommending Redchigh's method? I can't tell.
 
#11 ·
No byron has a plant guide, but redchigh has a soil substrate guide. If it can get stickied then people will be able to see it at the top of the list and refer to it easily. Im not recommending any mehtod, the soil method has lots of benefits, but gravel or just sand is much easier.

I said in his sig because its listed there part 1 and part 2 are both there. Part 1 talks about the pros and cons as well as how to prep the soil Part 2 is the actual laying of the substrate.
 
#13 ·
Yes I did. I like the pictures.:-D

Redchigh, you prefer useing ramshorn snails? Don't those multiply and infest tanks? Just wondering.

I might have my amazon tank in as soon as this week, I'll keep y'all posted on that. I intend to use redchigh's method of substrate.

Thanks everybody, I'll keep y'all posted.
 
#14 ·
I have pond, ramshorn, and MTS in every tank I have.

If you don't overfeed, you won't have an outbreak. (I've run a couple of my tanks for years, with snails the whole time.)

The amount of snails will fluctuate... Sometimes more, and sometimes down to about 2 or 3.
They crawl out of the woodwork when you feed the fish to eat it off of the bottom, but they aren't rampant.

I'd much rather have some snails than dead fish. (from the rotten food that the snails would have eaten.)
If a fish dies in a huge plant, they'll take care of it too. (Not that you should purposely leave a dead fish, but if you miss one.)
 
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