Question: Has anyone used this sand?

[DingoDoo]

Has anyone used Unipac Aquarium Gravel - Silver Sand? in their axy tank?
If yes, what is it like?
unipac dpac aquatic gravel

Am used to have a bare bottomed tank but thinking about sand but it will be a pain to clean as they poo everywhere, at least bare is easy to clean.

 

[peter5930]

I use fine, white silica sand in my tanks and ponds. I bought 900kg of it from a local builder's merchant, though it turned out to be rather more than I needed (but it was cheap, and I'll use the excess for something eventually). The sand grains are too tightly packed for mulm to settle between them, so the poo and other detritus forms a layer on the surface where it's easy to remove.

Plants root into it and worms burrow through it without any difficulty, which keeps the lower layers from turning anoxic and producing hydrogen sulphide. Earthworms will live indefinitely in a tank that has a sand substrate, digesting poo and controlling bacteria and fungi until they get eaten themselves, which doesn't take very long when they share a tank with axolotls.

 

[e23ho]

You can use regular earthworms in an aquarium? They won't drown? I use 'safe' snails in my lobster tank but I wouldn't dare try this with my axies; I'm trying to find a 'safe burrower'!

 

[peter5930]

Yes, regular earthworms are fine in an aquarium, and I've had them survive quite happily for months in my tanks. I read a paper some years ago about some old experiments that were done on earthworm survival underwater, but I haven't been able to find it again.