Loaches Online Forum

I am going to be starting a 150 gallon tank fairly soon and am wanting a nice dark substrate to bring out the colors of my fish. I know that in a dark substrate such as the one i am questioning i may not see my bottom fish as easy but i dont mind that long as they are happy. I am wanting to know iif anyone has ever used the Tahitian Moon Sand for loaches such as kuhli loaches and such? I want to know it if would be safe for them to use. I know the company that has it says not for use with bottom dwelling fish and i emailed them to ask why but they have not responded back to me at all about it which annoys me so I figured go to the next best thing and thats people that might use and have experience with this substrate. If its not to be a good substrate for loaches and corys even then what would be a good substrate that is darker in color for them? I want the fish as happy as I can but i dont want the light colors that bleach out the color of the fish. I know sometimes you cant get what you want but this time I hope i can. THank you very much for any help.
Scott
ROscommon, MI

i mixed 60lbs black moon sand with 200 lbs of similar sized play sand and ended up with a nice dark mixture that was WAY cheaper than all black. maybe 2 to 1 ratio would be good, id just mix it until you find the color you like. 20lb bag moon sand=20$, 20 lb bag of playground sand =5$. a little black sand really goes a long way.

I use estes sand. It comes in many colors and I have it (black color) in with my loaches and have no problems. My black kuhlis love to sift it for food. Its probably about as spendy as the tahitan moon as its like $5 for 5lbs or so.

I recently bought 3 bags of the moon sand and it looks awesome in my 55 gallon tank. I'm in the middle of upgrading tanks and I used white sand in my 15 gallon and it doesn't look as good as the black sand does in my new 55 gallon tank.

Scootdj79 wrote:II am wanting to know iif anyone has ever used the Tahitian Moon Sand for loaches such as kuhli loaches and such? I want to know it if would be safe for them to use. I know the company that has it says not for use with bottom dwelling fish

I have no experience with this product, but if the manufacturer states that it is not safe for use with bottom dwelling fish species, then I really wouldn't use it with loaches. I would think the reason must be because it is sharp and could damage the delicate sensory barbel area. I doubt they'd put a warning on the product otherwise.

Emma

Can you use kids play sand in the tank???????

You can, but it's very dirty (as in takes ALOT of rinsing). I use pool filter sand. It's rounded, larger grained (but still small enough for sand sifting species), cheap and though it also requires rinsing it's much better than play sand.

Shari - Do you have issues with fish greying out to match the color of the sand at all?