About Sand...

[CorydoraCat]

I have an aquarium with a trio of Cory cats, two danios, and two snails.
They're on fine, smooth pebbles, however, I'm interested in switching to sand once I move them back to the larger aquarium.

I've actually never used sand in an aquarium myself, but I think it looks quite nice, and I've heard it's much nicer for the Corys as well. Now I'm wondering, what's the best way to go about using aquarium sand? Wash it first? Once it's in there, do I need to worry about it being stirred up and making a huge mess? In terms of cleaning it later/water changes, is there a trick to cleaning through sand? Any other tips/tricks?

[gossei]

I can only speak from my experience. I use pool filter sand. It's cheap and readily available. I did not rinse mine and it did not cloud the water. I put down no more than an inch deep layer, to avoid creating anaerobic spots. When performing water changes, I hold the siphon above the sand far enough not to suck up the sand, but close enough to get the mulm. I use air-driven filters, so sand in the impeller isn't an issue. Otherwise, I recommend a prefilter of some sort. I know several people who use Aquaclear sponges cut to fit the intake. Also, try not to have the bottom of the intake down against the sand.

Blaise

[2wheelsx2]

I use Estes white silica sand in my non-planted tanks (non is relative as there are still plants in them). I pump water out for water changes, so I use an Eheim sludge extractor to clean the sand. I run an Eheim 2078 in the tank and sand in the filter has not been a problem for the impeller, but did jam the plastic gear which is worked by the push button to release the hoses and I had to destroy it to remove the hoses to clean the filter. I do not have a sponge prefilter though as my tank is drilled and 30"x30" which means the intake is in a very difficult to reach back corner.

The cories and plecos in my tank love it, and so do the discus. A much more natural substrate than gravel.