Carib Sea ACS00772 African Cichlid Live Sand for Aquarium, 2/20-Pound

I chose this specific sand because of several factors. The price was comparable to other sands and gravel (minus play sand, of course). It claimed to come packed with live, good bacteria to help with cycling. It requires no rinsing. It buffers the pH, and it's an attractive sand.

After reading all that, I thought it would be the perfect choice. Both processes of rinsing sand and cycling tanks are not things that I ever look forward to, so I was very excited when I found this sand.

The tank has been set up (with sand) for a month now. Initially, the tank was quite cloudy for maybe five days with an old filter running on it. The claim "doesn't need rinsing" led me (and probably many others) to believe that the product wouldn't create a cloud-fest in your tank.

The live bacteria claim is a joke. The tank still isn't fully cycled. I should have remembered that the bacteria requires aeration and a source of ammonia to stay alive, or at least refrigeration. Not going to get much of that packed in a water-tight bag.

The pH level is fine, but I can't say for certain that it's the sand doing it. I have tufa rock in the tank as well, and I've heard that water in my area is naturally higher in pH.

The sand does look nice, and after the tank is established, it's not a bad product. The few mbuna that I have in there now love digging out pits between and under rocks. But the product's initial claims are a little far-fetched.

I used this stuff to replace some crushed shell substrate in an mbuna tank. I love the look but, for me at least, it didn't live up to its billing. It had no buffering effect in my tank. My tap water is 7.2-7.4 and, after several days, the new substrate had no effect. So it didn't replace buffering chemicals. Second, the bag says no rinsing required. That may be, but there is a lot of sediment that will take a few days and a couple of water change to work out.

I have also noticed that my water is slightly more cloudy after replacing my old substrate with the Carib Sea. However, that may be due to fact that the old substrate had mature bacteria colonies and the new does not. Even though I have extensive biological filtration with a fluidized bed filter, it may take a while for the new substrate to catch up.

One other note: with sand like this, fish waste tends to accumulate on top of the substrate rather than sinking as it would with gravel. The bad news is that because this product is so light in color, that looks bad. The good news is that it is easy to remove with a battery vacuum. Vacuuming every day or two probably contributes to better water quality than does cleaning the gravel every week or two during water changes.

Buy Carib Sea ACS00772 African Cichlid Live Sand for Aquarium, 2/20-Pound Now

When the instructions to this sand/substrate say to wash until cloudy (not muddy), they really mean to wash it until CLEAR water is the result. This will still result in a cloudy tank for a few days even with agressive filtration with lots of good charcoal. The end result is a lovely looking bed of sand in the tank. Buffering is not great, but I am content with the water we naturally have at my location: basic enough for cichlids. The caution: When initiating a tank, try to have the same water conditions as the store, then slowly introduce fish, then make any changes towards having a more natural water type for your fish. If you introduce poorly managed fish into a well managed tank, one is likely to shock the fish and kill them.

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The title lead me to think it was two 20 pound bags but only one came. Still the sand is nice and attractive just not a good deal at the price for only twenty pounds. What would you think 2/20pounds meant. I saw 2 20 pound bags.

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