Re: Re: Onyx, gravel or sand

["Robert H" <robertph3 at attbi_com>]

>>Yes compared to most on the list I am a newbie......I use the python to
remove the mulm from the surface of my gravel now.......I just thought the
sand would be light and go right up (same for the mechanical filter).<<

Thats OK, I'm a newbie at heart! I also stopped having birthdays when I
turned 30...11 years ago! I think your concern is a valid one. I regularly
vacum the surface of the gravel and occasionaly go into the subtrate a
little, (particularly if I have gone too long NOT surface vacuming!) and it
is easy to pick up light weight substrate material.  I use Shultz/Profile in
some tanks that is much lighter weight than  Flourite, and in a couple of
tanks I have the old Profile, (about 3 years old) which was as fine as sand
and I am always sucking some up in the Python or siphon. I have even managed
to suck up some Flourite.

I do not like using sand for a number of reasons. It is often very alkaline,
and it compacts. It doesn't contain any minerals and for lush garden type
aquariums, it doesn't look natural in my opinion, or you don't see it any
way because its covered in plants. I am not a big fan of black substrates
either, but to each their own.

Robert Paul Hudson
http://www.aquabotanic.com
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