Not absolutely necessary, but a good rinse before installing wouldn't hurt..

I used this stuff to bury my Hydor heater cables, as the small grains are excellent for conducting heat.

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75g - 20 cardinals : 7 panda cory : 5 Julii cory : 9 zebra danios : 1 CAE : 2 SAE : 2 yo-yos : 1 BN
25g: 5 long-finned zebra danios

Relatively high price, but this is a deep black sand substrate. There has been some discussion as to whether or not it is acceptable for use with bottom feeders. I can tell you it is fine. I have a 38 gallon coldwater tank with 2 gold dojo loaches and they love it. They freely bury themselves in it and root around for extra food with no overt injuries noted. Great stuff, just wish it were a little cheaper.

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8 tanks running now:
1x 220 gallon, 2x55 gallon, 1x40 gallon long, 1x29 gallon, 1x20 gallon long, 1x5.5 gallon, 1x2 gallon
Gouramis, barbs, rasboras, plecos, corys, tetras, fancy guppies, swordtails, ottos, rainbow shark, upside-down catfish, snails, and Max and Sparkles the bettas.

All fish bury in it.

Looks great in the tank. The fish can move it around easily. No problem for my bottom feeders. It is a little expensive.

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You can't play nice with people who don't play by the rules!

Love the look of this sand, mixed it with black flourite sand for my planted tank. So far cories are fine on it, no signs at all of barbel erosion.

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Originally Posted by i_am_511

Lighten up its just the internet its not like someone came in your house and punched a baby in the face.

Mixable with most other substrates and is great for holding in peat or mud in that way. The cost isnt too bad, petco now carries it in my area for the traditional 1$/lb. Overall a great plant substrate and I use it by itself or with something else in all my tanks.

A while ago there was some issues with quality control but they seem to be well past that now.

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This looks really good in a tank, make the colors of you fish really stand out. I found it hard to clean, having to rinse it out many, many times. But it is worth it

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If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease.
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I really like this substrate. It seems to be quite a bit cleaner than other sands I've come in contact with.

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130g: 4 Angelfish, 2 Roseline Sharks, 12 Conga Tetras, 5 Kuhli Loaches, 1 Otocinslus, 1 Corydora