Carib Sea Super Naturals Aquarium Sand - 20 lb - Sunset Gold - Natural Substrate for Freshwater Aquariums, Enhances Aquascaping & Promotes Healthy Aquatic Habitat

I just got back into having fish and decided to go with all live plants, which I've never done before. 10 weeks in and I have four tanks going. I used this sand in my 30gallon and put it into a 6.5gal upgraded betta tank today. It is beautiful and I'm thrilled with my purchase! Pros: 1. Very fine for sensitive bottom dwellers like Cory Cats. Mine play and frolic constantly, leaving happy little trails all over the tank. They love it! My mystery snails and Malaysian trumpets love it too! 2. Plants love it! My plants are going crazy in this tank and taking longer to get going in the tanks with Eco Complete and Tahitian Moonlight (also beautiful, btw). I rearranged a few plants today and they had roots 6 inches long after about 8 weeks in the tank. The soft sand makes it easy to place plants without damaging them. 3. The light color is really pretty and makes it easy to spot various critters. It's kind of beachy in a way and a great contrast to my tank with the black Tahitian Moonlight sand in it. Cons: 1. Somewhat tricky to clean. Take my advice, which I got from someone else, and buy a mini gravel vacuum. It is perfect to stir up the sand to clean without sucking it all up and out of the tank. 2. Not really a con but some more advice: WASH IT FIRST!!! I did this by pouring the bag into a big 5 gallon bucket I got on the cheap from Walmart. Get a stool (it takes a while) and take the bucket to your outside hose. Use the strongest, most focused nozzle you have. Have a seat and shoot the water with force down into the sand. Use the water to churn it up. You'll be shocked at the fine particles that come out! Carefully pour the water out (don't worry... the sand will stay in the bucket) and then do it again. Rinse until the water runs clear. Trust me. You'll thank me later! You really can't go wrong buying this sand!

This sand is beautiful and incredibly soft! Used to have a dark substrate but decided to change to this. Sand is sand but I've dealt with several and this one is truly softer than any other aquarium sand IME. Would highly recommend for corydoras (I have 15) or other bottom dwellers with sensitive barbels. RINSE VERY WELL! Like go overboard. I thought I rinsed and ended up with a tank so cloudy you couldn't see through it for a week. Was frustrating but nobody's fault but mine. Super soft sand = finer grains. Finer grains= more likely to become cloudy and have the fines suspended in water column for a while. Just be smarter than me about it and you'll be very happy with the product. If your tank is heavily planted and decorated, go with one lb/gallon. Otherwise, go for 2lb/gallon. I used only one bag on my 60 gallon (48x13 footprint). Would definitely recommend/buy again if needed.

I switched from gravel to this, and my cichlids are ecstatic! They can't stop messing with it. They have dug out so many new caves since I added this. It cleans up nice with my siphon cleaner, doesn't get sucked up with the waste. Doesn't get blown around by the spray bar or wave maker, or sucked into the filter. Clouded my tank for a day even after rinsing each bag well with a bucket and hose, but after that the water is pristine. I used 4 bags in my 60 gallon tank originally just 3 but the cichlids love digging in it so much they kept hitting bottom and displacing too much, so I added another. The Sunset Gold looks great, a nice natural color. I'll never go back to gravel again!

I used this to set up my 37 gallon freshwater aquarium. I ordered 3 bags, but two filled it nicely. Has a great natural look and my tank decor and live plants were easily placed into/onto it. Only struggle I had was rinsing it. Took a while and had to rinse it several times to bring the cloudy effect down. There will be some cloudyness regardless at first, but with a good filter it WILL go away. Though I feel without a filter it would eventually settle, just will take longer most likely.

I went ahead and gave this 5 stars because I did read the reviews on this so I kind of expected the issue I had. Its gorgeous sand and more than enough for my small community aquarium i was switching from gravel to sand substrate BUT I rinsed the sand in the bag because I didn't have a bucket handy safe from chemicals and "thought" I had it rinsed well as I let the water run over it for 30min periodically stirring it up best I could ... Apparently it was not good enough. Not even a little. I have had it in my tank for 2 hours and still can't see anything in my tank lol the water is completely tan (the shade of the sand) and doesn't seem to be settling very fast so it may be a full day or two before I can add my fish back in. I'm impatient so it's a bit of an inconvenience but I know other reviews advised rinse well and expect cloudy water for a while so I guess I can't complain. It really is beautiful sand and I can already tell I am going to love how it looks once my water is clear again.

I've been using Imagitarium white sand from pet stores for the past 8 months... I cannot believe the difference!! Caribsea Sand is so soft and velvety. I originally purchased one 20LB bag for my 20g and I loved it so much I just came back & purchased TWO more! Im going to put this in ALL my tanks. I love the color & the look. I purchased the Golden one. Compared to other Sands it is EASIER to wash. I wash about 5LBS at a time in a bucket, rinsing & swishing, dump rinse repeat, the cloud settles very quickly!! Which is a huge bonus. The white sand took me 4 weeks to wash completely from that other brand- so this has been a dream to wash compared to others. It is a bit more expensive, but I will gladly pay it!!

What you see is basically what you get. I think sand is more of personal preference and it’s better for soft bellied fish rather than gravel. Kind of difficult for me to clean but it never seems to look dirty. And yes my tank glass needs cleaned. Best to have a weekly routine. I lightly vacuum and scrub the little brown spots on the glass every weekend on all my tanks. I also recommend to rinse rinse rinse rinse. You think it’s clean enough it’s not do it again. Super dirty sand but it’s nice in a planted tank.

The sand is very beautiful and soft, but care is needed while cleaning because it gets picked up easily. I do not recommend using the included Bio-Magnet clarifier packet because it irreparably clogged all the sponges in all my filters and stained all my media orange, even though I rinsed the sand first. Worst of all, it continues to clog my filters as particles are stirred up during cleanings. It's nice sand, but it is incredibly messy.

J'adore, les grains sont juste parfaits pas trop gros pas trop petits, bien lavé l'eau est limpide, les plantes restent bien en place, la couleur est parfaite et ça fait naturel. J'aime tellement ce produit que j'ai commandé une autre couleur pour mon deuxième aquarium et je sais que je ne serai pas déçu! Je vous le recommande fortement !!

I have a planted tank with a few dwarf plecos. The little stirring up they do on the bottom keeps the tank constantly cloudy. Had to start over with tank, so much work and waste of money.

Very consistent grain size, relatively clean no problem. Purchase 2 bags, locally a buck or two cheaper. But Amazon delivers to your door, especially if your ordering other items.

Rinsed off quickly before use and it still looks great! Not too fine and not too corse

No reasonable price or quality at local pet. So took a chance on az order for this. I was pleasantly surprised and satisfied.