# where to buy dark sand substrate suitable for bottom dwellers?



## gsneufeld (Jan 28, 2012)

Sorry if thisis the wrong section, im going crazy looking for a smooth sand 10 or 20 pounds.. i read similar threads suggesting jl aquatics flourite stuff .. does anyone know if that stuff is good for corys soft bellies? Looking for any smooth dark coloured sand. Thanks!


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I know Mr Pets had some called Tahitian moon sand. Its black. I beleive we ordered moon sand a few weeks ago for some of our locations. Pm me if you are interested or call the Poco location. I can order it in if we dont have any in stock.

Ive never used the flourite sand. I use their gravel substrate. Its okay.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Not Flourite. Estes Ultra Reef sand. Estes Ultra Reef Black Marine Sand - 5lbs

Smooth round and fine grained. My catfish all love it. I'm using it in my new setups. And if I have to tear down an old one, I'd switch to it. Or you can use pool filter sand, but of course it won't be dark.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I would not recommend the Tahitian Moon Sand for corydoras. I asked Caribsea about this a few weeks ago after I had some trouble with some cories and they told me that although there are many tanks in North America that do have corydoras living successfully on this sand, they don't recommend it for them. 

Tahitian Moon Sand is really beautiful with cardinal tetras, though, and shrimp also seem to love it. It does not seem to trap food and such the way that Eco-Complete does. It's a very good product but I wouldn't try it with cories if you have another option.


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## gsneufeld (Jan 28, 2012)

hmm.. is the estes sand at jl? Is it the inert type? Also, anybody use the super nnaturals sand ? Is that also ground glass? Im confused...:/


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## Mr. Pet's (Jul 17, 2011)

We should have the Tahitian Moon Sand in Black as well as White back in stock by the end of the month or sooner. Our supplier ran out.

Tahitian Moon Sand White
Tahitian Moon Sand Black

I am not sure what it is made of, I would think it's natural and not glass because it is super dusty.


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## gsneufeld (Jan 28, 2012)

Ehh.. I went with the play sand from toysrus. Holy mackeral, five bucks buys a lot of sand. I had a hell of a time bussing homme with 20 kilos, but so worth it. My corys look like a bunch of litttle snow plows xD the black sand idea will have to wait I guess. Thanks though, you guys are awesome


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

Hey Maureen, what did Caribsea say about their sand that they don't recommend it for cory's?


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Hi Arcteryx,

Hmm, I don't remember Caribsea's exact words but I did post their entire email in a thread here that I started a month or so ago about Tahitian moon sand. 

Other aquarium hobbyists have said that it's made of ground glass and used to carry a warning on it. It's important to know that although Caribsea doesn't recommend it for corydoras, they said that thousands of corydoras are living successfully on it. I wouldn't make it my first choice now for corydoras, but one positive thing about it is that it's very easy to keep clean, which is good for corydoras as they don't like a dirty substrate.


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## gsneufeld (Jan 28, 2012)

Wow.. I did a little reading on this subject and there is a lot of debate... Here's what I've noticed from personal experience though, since switching to the regular smooth play sand, their barbels (which looked normal length to me before) have gotten almost twice as long. They look like long moustaches, it's crazy. 

Some people think it may be a combination of small nicks and scratches on the whiskers from constantly rooting around in sharp sand or gravel, and high nitrate levels or whatever it is...My nitrates are always low due to heavily planted tanks, but i've found that sand compacts down, and it's much easier to keep clean than I thought it would be, and grit doesn't settle down the way it does in cracks in the gravel, so it's easier to keep clean. 

As far as the glass sand and corys, someone wrote an article online saying he kept corys on a substrate of actual broken glass shards and zero nitrates, and their whiskers stayed long... the way they filter sand through their gills though.. seems like that would be painful?


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

next time your trying to find super fine, clean but inert sand you should go to canadian tire and get some crayola playsand , i run it in all my tanks its awesome , super clean out of the bag , the only thing it only comes in purple, navy blue,pastel pink and green ... which turns some people off but the blue and the purple are my to go to colours , however with red things such as shrimp the green looks awesome, like big rolling hills of green sand looks really neat, next tank if i can convince the wife to green light the next set up upstairs....


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## gsneufeld (Jan 28, 2012)

@Macframallama lol yeah I'm not crazy about the day-glo colours when it comes to substrates, although you're right, green would look pretty cool, maybe with just some java moss and the shrimp...


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

green sand , dark malaysian driftwood, and some java moss it looks awesome, and the blue isnt so IN YOUR FACE i mixed my blue with a bag of black and some baby blue to dumb it down , i dunno i like it but it is cheap, clean , safe , non toxic, oh yeah and the best part ... cheap lol $10 gets you 20lbs and you dont have to rinse it for 6 days to get it clean it is almost perfect out of the bag


im like a spokesperson for the stuff i love it


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Ive used tahitian moonsand in most of my tanks. Ive had plenty of bottom dwellers thrive in my tanks with it over the period of years. Ive heard the issue with substrates and bottom dwellers was more about jagged sharp substrates like flourite for soft bellied fishies. 

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