new 75 gallon concerns

[LivebearersFTW]

My dad decided to get me an early birthday gift and put a 75G on a 4 week lay-away plan but i have a few concerns, one being that he chose sand as a substrate. aren't anaerobic pockets an issue for sand? secondly the sand he chose is cichlid blend, i read some where that cichlid blends are designed to raise pH and hardness, i already have problems with both of these in my other tanks and have finally quelled the problem by using distilled water in my other tanks. the previous mentioned problems have to do with not being able to get live-bearers to even spawn and i intend to move the live-bearers to the 75 and rethink the 45. does anyone have any suggestions or am i just being a paranoid fish keeper?

[Lady Hobbs]

Is he paying for the sand on layaway with the tank? If so, I would simply have him remove those items from his layaway plan and if he already bought them, just return them and get what you want.

[bignellm]

Invading Malaysian Trumpet Snails can handle the gas pockets. Vac'ing will be more of a delicate task. Harder water isn't a issue for live bearers. They do ok in more an alkaline condition.

If on layaway, Hobbs has some good advice on the substrate if not wanted.