CaribSea Instant Aquarium Moonlight Sand Gravel

CaribSea Instant Aquarium Moonlight Sand Gravel

http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html
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I opted to go with this in the 90g (I used FIVE 20lb bags and could have used 1-2 more bags imo)...I liked the color, fine-ness of the substrate, the fact that it wouldn't muck with my tank parameters, that it was soft belly safe and thought it would look better than the pool filter sand which was a larger diameter substrate.

> First issue was getting it out of the bag...wet sand DOES NOT come out of a plastic bag easily (also you had to sift through it with your hands to find the 2 little baggies hidden inside--dechlorinator & I think the other was nitrifying bacteria).

> Second issue was that this stuff is so fine that it "blows" easily.....it gets all over my driftwood and plant leaves- aggrovating to say the least.
Luckily I'll be using prefilters on the intakes which will hopefully keep this out of my filtration systems motors.

-> Third issue was using it to "plant" in...although it DOES say it's plant safe/friendly it was difficult to say the least to anchor plants with (pool filter sand you were able to create "mounds" with to help cover wider bases such as swords..this stuff you can't do that with- it immediately sinks back down/ aka packs itself).

-> Also, this stuff was a nightmare to "vacuum" as you really couldn't agitate it with a siphon because it was so fine you'd suck it up.

With smaller fish (or shrimp setups) the substrate might rock, but with larger fish (such as discus) I think I'd avoid it.

To see actual images of this product in an aquarium check out my 90g setup:

90 Gallon Planted Tank - Angelfish Community Aquarium