# Best aquascaping sand? Opinions please.



## Nathaniel Whiteside (23 Mar 2013)

Hey, 

Was going to buy some 'standard' aquarium sand the other day, but want something a little more natural. 

Was thinking ADA forest or Unipac Fiji?

Can anyone post up photos of sand substrates with what it is,  to make my decision a little easier 

Cheers,


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## tim (23 Mar 2013)

Hey nath I've never used Ada sands but unipac do a nice range  I used Senegal in my shrimp nano if you look at the later images Ian holdich uses tana in his signature scape my lfs just got some big bags in and I'm itching to rescape with sand foreground for the price I would go with the unipac.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (23 Mar 2013)

tim said:


> Hey nath I've never used Ada sands but unipac do a nice range  I used Senegal in my shrimp nano if you look at the later images Ian holdich uses tana in his signature scape my lfs just got some big bags in and I'm itching to rescape with sand foreground for the price I would go with the unipac.



Hey tim, 
Thanks for taking the time to reply mate. Do you know if Maidenhead Aquatic branches stock unipac? As I could go to their Stokesley branch tomorrow  

Cheers,


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## tim (23 Mar 2013)

My local MA does, can be hit and miss on bag sizes though maybe ring them first see what they have In stock.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (23 Mar 2013)

tim said:


> My local MA does, can be hit and miss on bag sizes though maybe ring them first see what they have In stock.



Will go have a look I think anyway, if nothing else will be worth a look round


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## Ian Holdich (23 Mar 2013)

Unipac sands are great IMO. I have used a few now and they are as good as the Ada sands with a fraction of the price. I'm using tana sand at the moment. It's in my journal.


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## stu_ (23 Mar 2013)

For what it's worth.
Fiji Coarse (3mm), they do a smaller 'fine' as well



 
I've not had much experience with other sands, except play sand.
This is nice to plant in.Enough 'give' when planting the _M.Hirsuta _& no floaters.
I like the variation in colour.
HTH


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (23 Mar 2013)

Ian Holdich said:


> Unipac sands are great IMO. I have used a few now and they are as good as the Ada sands with a fraction of the price. I'm using tana sand at the moment. It's in my journal.



I thought as much mate. As long as its got  a nice look and doesnt raise hardness, it'll be right for me.

Thanks for replying 



stu_ said:


> For what it's worth.
> Fiji Coarse (3mm), they do a smaller 'fine' as well
> 
> 
> ...



Thats great Stu! That is more or less the look I want, a mixed palette of creams with the odd Gray and brown. Looks very natural to me.

Does it raise your KH or TDS?

Cheers,


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## Gary Nelson (24 Mar 2013)

I use the unipac fine sands as above (fiji).... Really good stuff and very natural looking


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## stu_ (24 Mar 2013)

No idea about the KH or TDS, sorry.
I don't test for either.There's nothing sensitive in there.
The Rummys usually have good colour, so that's good enough for me.


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## Ian Holdich (24 Mar 2013)

It's inert, I have it I'm my nano, it doesn't raise tds. I haven't tested the kh, but I'm positive it doesn't touch that either.


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## BIN578 (24 Mar 2013)

I was concerned about which of Unipacs sands might affect water hardness and according to their techy guy Maui, Fiji and Samoa are the only ones guaranteed not to contain traces of dolomite.  However, planted tanks have high water changes so I am not sure if the other sands would really cause a problem.  I like the look of senegal.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (24 Mar 2013)

Hello chaps,

Well, Ive kind of gone against the grain (Giggidy) here. Although there was loads of unipac colours, I couldnt decide in the end. I liked the Maui but they didnt have it in fine grade.

So I ended up with two bags of JBL's Sansibar  - River colour.






Which specifically states it wont affect water hardness. Ideal.

Anyone had experience with this before?
Cheers,


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## stu_ (24 Mar 2013)

Nathaniel Whiteside said:


> Hello chaps,
> Although there was loads of unipac colours, I couldnt decide in the end.
> Cheers,


 


Hope this one works out for you


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