Sand

Hello people!
I've just re-arranged my tank a bit, and was wondering if anyone had a tidy idea of what type of sand to use. I did use playpit sand last time (as you can see there's still a bit at the bottom), but i found it compacted terribly in some places, and generally went to look manky pretty quickly. I had it down for 18 months though and Aristotle's never had any health problems, so I guess it couldn't have been that bad, there's a lot of water for just one Axie though so that helps. Now I don't really have a clue what else to use. I had a look online and saw some Caribsea Aragamax Sugar Sand which looked about right.
"buffers to the highest pH and delivers more calcium, carbonate, and trace elements than any other substrate. Little or no rinsing required, aragonite keeps aquariums healthier, longer"

Not a clue what that means tbh. Is all that faff going to throw my water quality out, or promote too much algae growth? If anyone could reccomend a specific brand/type then that would be appreciated. Ta.

Edit - lol Ignore the background, I've just ordered a proper one.

Don't get that sand it comes from the sea wich is not good for the axolotls and it messes with the ph.

Ok thats grand, ta. Any idea what I should be using then?

I use a bare bottom tank i like it more then sand you can get some java moss and make a moss carpet.

Wow, yeah Moss looks groovy! How hard is it to control though, and does it need lighting? Arri has plenty of places to hide as you can see, but I feel guilty when the lights come on because he freaks out and sometimes can't seem to find some shelter. He really doesnt like them.

Hi Tommo,
As Axolotlgangster has suggested, a bare bottomed tank is a really good option if only on the cleaning point of view, but on a side note it is also believed that Axolotls are not able to grip the glass of a barebottomed tank and that this can cause stress over time.
If you are looking for a substrate to use either to plant plants or just the asthetic qualities then other than the play sand other alternatives you could use are;

'Pool filter sand' - Pool filter sand looks lighter in colour to 'play sand' and is also a finer grained sand and as the name suggests, is used to filter swimming pools. It is perfectly safe and commonly used by people here on the forum. (I have come to believe that it is also known as 'silver sand' or 'silica sand' prob worth a google just to be sure though)

'Tahitian Moon sand' - Comes in black and as far as I know this is safe, it is fine grained and doesn't buffer your water quality(I belive somebody already has this in with thier Axolotl might be worth a forum search), and it gives a nice contrast to the lighter Albino and Lecustic type Axies. The only thing that has slightly worried/stopped me getting this myself is, on thier website it has been listed as 'not suitable for planted aquariums', and 'not safe for soft bellys' which I would have said axies were.

Large river rocks - From a pet shop or building supply type place large river rocks are pleasing to the eye and very safe providing your axolotl cant fit them in his/her mouth. some people find river rocks hard to clean, I think it is just as hard as Keeping sand clean.

As with all substrates be sure to rinse it thoroughly, and with sand like substrates do not layer more than about an inch deep to minimise the anerobic bacteria that builds up in gas pockets and can also somtimes be seen as black lines/areas within the sand.
Also have a bit of a nosey around the site, See what other people have used and also try the forum search, theres a wealth of knowledge under the suface.
Hope this helps some!
Cliff

The one type of sand I use for EVERYTHING is a red flint sand. It has a larger grannual than standard sand, but isn't big enough where they might accidently eat it (had that happen in my Highschool Biology class, bad idea!) The red flint sand is large enough to use an aquarium vaccum without issues, but fine enough to still give that "beach" look.

Tommo, have a look at this article from our Caudata Culture section:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/substrate1.shtml

Sorry for the slow reply guys, been busy with work. Thank you for all the advice, it really is appreciated. I'll have a good read now, and see whats what. Thanks again!

I found an almost white aquarium sand commonly sold in retail outlets - most bags are 'sand coloured', but the almost white was my ideal. It's in a bag with fish pic on front - simply very fine pure sand which doesn't cloud the water - quite expensive, & NOT that fancy stuff that comes in stupid colours (the bag is at school, so I can't check the make at present) . I do my weekly water change by syphoning, & 'hoover' as I do so, & wash & return any sand I syphon up in the process.

See the pic to the left.

My other tank (babies) is bare-bottomed sitting on & backed with slightly marbled dull green wallpaper, which works well & was mega-cheap left over rolls!


Sparkle & Heather