River coarse-grained sand in aquarium. Recommendations for selecting the soil

One of the most common varieties of aquarium soil is coarse-grained sand. Its popularity is due to the fact that it not only carries an aesthetic load, but also acts as a nutrient substrate for underwater vegetation. After reading the article, you will learn about the main features of this material.

Existing varieties

In modern pet stores there is a wide range of such products, so fish lovers have the opportunity to choose the most suitable option. To date, you can buy several types of aquarium sand, including quartz and river.

In addition, the sale can be found so-called aragonite. It is an unusually spectacular natural white material , derived from the shells of shellfish and fragments of corals. Its main value lies in the ability to automatically maintain the normal acidity of seawater. During the dissolution of aragonite, the aquarium receives a high concentration of strontium, magnesium and calcium.

Another, quite popular type of soil is black sand. The composition of this material contains the smallest grains of heavy minerals. This sand has no effect on the rigidity of aquarium water. It appears due to natural washing out of light light rocks.

The main advantages and disadvantages of such a soil

It should be noted that the sand is coarse, often used as an aquarium substrate, contributes to the creation of favorable conditions for fish. Using this soil allows you to recreate the environment as close to natural as possible.

In addition, this material greatly facilitates the process of cleaning the bottom of the aquarium, protecting the substrate from the penetration of organic waste. Also coarse-grained sand promotes better rooting of algae. Plus, it provides great softness of water. It is also important that many fish like to dig in a loose ground, located at the bottom of the aquarium.

Before filling this soil, it must be pre-treated. As a rule, it boils down to a fairly long rinse with clean water. Due to the fact that all the garbage will float to the surface, you will often have to clean the aquarium. In addition, when choosing a substrate, it should be borne in mind that some of its varieties affect the chemical characteristics of water.

What are the requirements for sand?

River coarse-grained substrate should be approximately the same size. Otherwise you will not be able to avoid its caking. It is important that the diameter of grains is more than one and a half centimeters. The smaller grains will slow down the metabolic processes that occur in the soil. As a consequence, the substrate may become sour or decay the roots of aquatic plants.

It is very important that the coarse sand you choose is safe for aquarium inhabitants. In addition, many experts recommend buying a dark soil, because against the background of a spectacular white substrate, fish become less expressive.

How to disinfect natural material?

It should be understood that coarse-grained sand, extracted from a quarry or from a natural reservoir, is subject to mandatory processing. This will protect the inhabitants of your aquarium from getting pathogenic microflora. To date, several methods of disinfection are known. This can be done by calcining the sand in the oven.

In a bucket filled with natural material, add water and manganese. This should be done until the liquid gets a dark red color. After a lapse of forty-eight hours, the contents of the bucket should be rinsed under a stream of running water.

Useful recommendations

Do not use any natural substrate in the aquarium, which releases various soluble substances into the water. Such soils can not fully replace coarse-grained sand. Plants in the aquarium should be so much that they provide a comfortable existence for other inhabitants, but they may not be arranged shell rock or marble, which is located on the bottom. The fact is that these minerals contain a large amount of calcium carbonate, which eventually dissolves in a mildly acidic medium and increases the hardness of water.

In the process of cleaning the substrate, you must act with extreme caution. Otherwise, there is a risk of unintentional destruction of the colony of beneficial microorganisms, as a result of which there may be a sharp increase in the concentration of nitrites and ammonia in aquarium water.

It is important that the sand dimensions are commensurate with the parameters of the fish. In modern practice, cases are known where the inhabitants of the aquarium swallowed too small particles of the substrate.

If you plan to breed not only fish, but algae, then when laying a soil in it it is recommended to add fertilizers necessary for the normal life of plants.