# Choosing material for substrat



## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

Hello,

Troughout my lfs around, I'm not able to find the substrates you use like onyx, eco-complete, laterit, vs... What I can find are regular sand, different sized and colored gravels. Unfortunately lfs around here are not very much into this kind of varieties. So why I'm sending this post; as I can not find material for substrat I would like to use anything (sand, gravel or mix) that will suit my viewing pleasure. But I would like to know how I can be sure that the material I will use will not release anything to water column ar be harmful at any aspects. Is there any method for testing the material before use? etc...

Thanks to all,
YILDIRIM


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Pool filter sand works really well. I also like gravel used for blasting. I have also seen tanks using play sand that looked nice.


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## chubasco (Jan 16, 2005)

Hi,
Take a sample of your sand and place it in a small shallow container. Using
a medicine dropperful of muriatic acid, release drops into the sand. If you
see fizzing, there are carbonates in the sand that will raise the gh/kh. This
is not a good thing if you want a chemically inert substrate.
HTH,

Bill Ruyle


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