This morning I got CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand as substrate for my aquarium. It’s very beautiful sparkling black naturally-colored sand and I got it to mix in with the natural black gravel that I already have in there.
Sand is good for plant roots and it supposedly reduces nitrates better than gravel. Also, there may be some freshwater clams and crabs in my aquarium’s future, and I want to have the substrate all completed before I add any living creature!
I’m definitely glad that I added the sand early on, because my tank is no longer the pretty, clear blue picture it was yesterday, it’s just a cloud that I’m sure no creature would want to intake and I don’t see it clearing up anytime soon. So if I had some fish set aside for this process, they would probably be there for quite a while.
Also, I’m pretty sure I jammed the impeller in my Top Fin filter because even though I didn’t think I was pouring the sand close to the filter, the filter sucked some in and hasn’t worked since. That’s correct, I did not remove the filter first, lesson learned. Fortunately I had a silent running Aqueon filter from years past, along with a box of replacement cartridges, that is in excellent condition so I am using it now. It’s only a 10 gallon filter so it’s not pumping out massive amounts of water like the other one was, and I realize that it won’t clean as well as a 30 gallon filter, but it does the job nicely for now. It makes me wonder, does a well-planted, self-sustaining tank need much filtration? I figure if my pH levels are good and the water looks clear, I won’t worry. Also, with the Aqueon being silent, it completely solves the noise issue I had with Top Fin.
