Sand substrate

I've been switching most of my tanks from a gravel substrate to sand. This started with keeping Geophagus and Gymnogeophagus, but I've also decided I just like the look better. This 75 had a blue and black gravel base, but I took that out today and put in Quikcrete commercial grade fine sand. Within a couple of hours it settled to the point you could see inside the tank.

This is what it looked like right after I put the sand in. With the first couple of tanks I converted to sand, I used playground/sandbox quality sand. It produced a cloud that took a couple of days to settle and will still kick up a cloud if you start digging around it. The fine/washed sand is a much better choice and doesn't cost much.

My plan now is to keep my Gymnogeophagus in this 75 and to try and breed my White and Gold Saums in my two 55s. We'll see how it goes.

And here is another update on the Red Tiger Lotus. Look how much it has grown in the past month. Easily the fastest growing plant I've ever owned. The leaves are huge and have already reached the surface on the 20 long. I'm going to move it to a 125 soon. Hoping it doesn't have any problems after the move.