Sudo Bottom Sand vs Sudo Reef Sand!

[Urban Aquaria]

I'm currently looking to setup a new tank for corydora fishes, so a fine sand base will be required. I narrowed my choice down to the Sudo brand sand... but i'm at a real dilemma, which color to choose?

Sudo Bottom Sand = Dark Brown
Sudo Reef Sand = Light Beige

So i ended up buying both!



I like the color of the reef sand as it contrasts well with brown driftwood and bogwood (which i plan to use) in the tank, bottom sand tends to be abit too similar in color to brown wood (unless the wood is really dark or black).

Bottom sand has pictures of corydoras on the bag, so its probably safe to assume that its designed for those fishes.

I prefer reef sand but was worried that it is only suitable for marine tanks (based on the name). Some LFS owners say its inert and okay to use for freshwater tanks, while other LFS owners say cannot, so alot of conflicting info... in addition, i've also read threads on forum which also have mixed info too.



I used google translate to try and decipher the japanese text on the bags, all the instructions are the same and there is no warnings not to use them in any particular tank, the only different text are at the top.. which after processing through google translate to:

Sudo Bottom Sand = "Round corners lightly sand friendly fish that live on the bottom, such as corydoras..."

Sudo Reef Sand = "Beautiful natural sea sand to reproduce the natural leaf..."

Fair bit lost in translation, but i guess we can get the gist of it.

Anyways i wanted to see if there is really any difference in both types of sand and whether they affect water parameters, so i tested them both in cups with de-chlorinated water, 50ml of sand with 450ml of water (this has way higher sand to water ratio than in an actual tank so if there is going to be any effect on parameters, it will be much quicker and more noticeable).

I left them for 1 week, every day stirring the sand to simulate corydoras sifting through the sand substrate... then i tested their parameters:



Both registered the same pH of 6.8-7.0 (which is light blue-green on the pH solution), same as the original de-clorinated water. I went further to test for KH and GH, both also at 1-2 drop... again, same as the original water too.

Basically, the test showed that both sands were inert and didn't alter water parameters. My guess is both sands probably go through special pre-processing before being packaged.

Since both sands are inert and should be usable in freshwater tanks safely... its back to the original question, which color to choose?

Honestly, i've been staring at both bags of sand for the past week and still can't decide!

To all experienced corydoras owners out there, which color sand do you recommend? Any experiences to share on the pros and cons of each color?

[limz_777]

never use sudo sand before , but i will use the reef sand , look natural

but if you want the fish to stand out , reddish sand will be better

[Urban Aquaria]

never use sudo sand before , but i will use the reef sand , look natural

but if you want the fish to stand out , reddish sand will be better

Thanks for your input!

I agree with your suggestions, the darker sand would make the fish colors stand out more, while although the lighter sand would look more natural and clearer, there is a chance the fish colors may look abit washed-out.

Decisions, decisions...

[joe]

I've kept more than 300++ corydoras at one stage of my fish keeping craze in a 3ft tank and both sand will do fine. After you see the cories start digging, sand color matters the least

[Urban Aquaria]

I've kept more than 300++ corydoras at one stage of my fish keeping craze in a 3ft tank and both sand will do fine. After you see the cories start digging, sand color matters the least

Haha... that's great, i shall go with that advice!

[stormhawk]

I'd go with the lighter colored sand. Previously, I was using this fine sand from Europet. IIRC, I bought that bag of sand from Petmart. It was by far the best looking sand I used for my Corydoras in the past. Only drawback with lighter sand is that you'll be looking at Corydoras poop scattered all over the place. There's also another sand from GEX that I was fiddling with. Looks great too. It's called Mutsu Sand. You can see it at GC in one of the tanks. The grit size is 0.3-0.8 mm. This other type called Mikawa Sand is also nice too for Cory tanks. Less fine but good looking.

[cherabin]

Very good information! I used to keep corydoras and dare to use only bottom sand due to the very reason you mentioned, the picture on the packaging. Reef sand seems to be a very interesting alternative option and that can be another consideration in the future should I keep corydoras again.

Last but not least, keep us posted on your new project. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see your work

[Urban Aquaria]

I'd go with the lighter colored sand. Previously, I was using this fine sand from Europet. IIRC, I bought that bag of sand from Petmart. It was by far the best looking sand I used for my Corydoras in the past. Only drawback with lighter sand is that you'll be looking at Corydoras poop scattered all over the place. There's also another sand from GEX that I was fiddling with. Looks great too. It's called Mutsu Sand. You can see it at GC in one of the tanks. The grit size is 0.3-0.8 mm. This other type called Mikawa Sand is also nice too for Cory tanks. Less fine but good looking.

Cool... thanks for the tips!

Very good information! I used to keep corydoras and dare to use only bottom sand due to the very reason you mentioned, the picture on the packaging. Reef sand seems to be a very interesting alternative option and that can be another consideration in the future should I keep corydoras again.

Last but not least, keep us posted on your new project. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see your work

Will do!

[Urban Aquaria]

Quick update!

I've decided to go with Sudo Reef Sand as my tank substrate...



Quite a refreshing change from the dark brown ADA Aqua Soil substrate that i have been looking at over the past few months.

As you can see, i transferred the bogwood with fissidens from my 13 litre nano tank (which has since been decommissioned) over to this new tank... it'll be the current hard scape for the moment while i'm thinking about how to scape it further.

I also directly transferred over the Eden 501 canister filter too, so it now sits just below the tank on the bottom shelf of the rack.



Even though the canister filter holds well established bio media and most of the previous tank's items were carried over, the tank is currently being run initially with just a small group of cherry shrimps for another week to ensure and confirm that all the water parameters are stable, before i add in more fauna.



The lights i am using for this tank is the Up Aqua Z-Series Pro LED Z-15 / 45cm version.

It is still able to fit this 48cm width tank as the plastic holders on the sides can be adjusted abit wider to accommodate the tank's extra 3cm width.



This is the first time i'm using sand based substrate and i'm really starting to like the look of it!

Thanks to everyone for their inputs and tips!

[Shadow]

Interesting, I would tough reef sand is for reef tank thus contain corral crust

[Fujisasuke]

I'm curious, what is the ph of your tank?

[Urban Aquaria]

Interesting, I would tough reef sand is for reef tank thus contain corral crust

Yeah, i also thought so too, especially based on the "reef sand" name... but after testing, it seems to be more like cosmetic sand, probably its been processed to remove coral or shell bits. I guess Sudo named it reef sand mainly for its color, rather than for actual application.

I'm curious, what is the ph of your tank?

The tank's pH is currently 7.0, around the same as my de-chlorinated tap water... at the moment there is nothing significant in the tank to buffer pH yet (the current bogwood has been "seasoned" for a few months already so i guess its pH effects are minimal).

[AhVy]

Have you thought about mixing both? Maybe you'll be surprised!


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[Urban Aquaria]

Have you thought about mixing both? Maybe you'll be surprised!

Good idea!

I just tested it out, mixed equal parts of both bottom sand and reef sand, the result was still quite brown.

So i increased the reef sand portion to double the ratio, then the mix started turning into a noticeable lighter brown... though if i looked very closely, i can still see the separate grains of different colored sands.

Quite interesting, i guess users can mix and match both sands to customize the color combination.

[AhVy]

Good idea!

I just tested it out, mixed equal parts of both bottom sand and reef sand, the result was still quite brown.

So i increased the reef sand portion to double the ratio, then the mix started turning into a noticeable lighter brown... though if i looked very closely, i can still see the separate grains of different colored sands.

Quite interesting, i guess users can mix and match both sands to customize the color combination.

*thumbs up*! Take photos! Hee


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[stormhawk]

Urban, that piece of driftwood really reminds me of a terrapin.

[limz_777]

it does look like a topiary , maybe grow the fissidens below to make it look like hind leg

[AQMS]

its a nice clean look.

[edwliang]

hey guys.
i just bought 1kg sudo reef sand, and tested it using RO water. and it really increased both PH and TDS, from PH6.1,TDS002 to PH8.1 TDS129 in 5 days! what is the problem? anyone can explain that?

[Urban Aquaria]

hey guys.
i just bought 1kg sudo reef sand, and tested it using RO water. and it really increased both PH and TDS, from PH6.1,TDS002 to PH8.1 TDS129 in 5 days! what is the problem? anyone can explain that?

Did you wash the sand thoroughly beforehand? There are alot of residual minerals and fine particles in the sand so its best to wash it well before use. I washed the sand repeatedly in a bucket until the water is clear before testing and using it.

If the sand is not washed well, any residual minerals and impurities packed amongst it will naturally dissolve in your test water and raise the TDS. TDS levels in water depends on the ratio of impurities to water volume. In a small cup of water, it requires a just a tiny bit of impurities to raise the TDS by alot.

For example, my tap water usually reads a TDS of around 70... i've tested putting just a few drops of Seachem Prime in a small 150ml cup of tap water, and the TDS jumps from 70 to 300 in an instant! Did the same in a 15 liter bucket of water and the TDS only increases slightly from 70 to 80.

The large pH increase you measured is due to the direct use of RO water. RO water has little to no pH buffering ability, so even just a slight amount of impurities will push pH way up, especially in a small volume of water since the ratio is skewed.

Tap water has much better pH buffering ability, hence that's why my test didn't show any noticeable change in the parameters. The tap water was able to buffer its pH against the relatively small amounts of impurities in the sand.

Try the test again with de-chlorinated tap water (if that's what you'll normally be using for water changes) and wash the sand before testing, see if you can get the same effect.

If for various reasons you have to use RO water for your tank (ie. due to keeping sensitive fishes or shrimps), then remember to also add in the essential "balancing" mineral/trace additives (which are recommended whenever using RO water) before doing the tests, as that will help replicate the real-world conditions.

Hope that helps!