# What is the best cap for a dirted tank?



## xxoczukxx (Aug 16, 2014)

So ive been told to use black diamond blasting sand but i cant find anywhere locally that carries it and I would rather not spend $30 on shipping. I have used tahitian moon sand and ecocomplete in other tanks and like them but the tahitian moon sand feels really fine and im worried that the dirt wont be able to breath much under it. As for the ecocomplete, i feel like i like sand more as its easier to get plants to stay planted in sand. 

Does anyone have any advice? would tahitian moonsand be ok over dirt or would i need a coarser, larger grained sand?


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## [email protected] (Jan 8, 2010)

petco has there own brand of black sand !5 bucks for 20 #s it will work fine


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

Small grain sands are fine as long as you don't go deep with them.

I use a paver sand I got from home depot that looks really nice. It has varying sizes in it so it adds a lot of texture. You lose about 30% when washing but its only like 4 bucks for 50lb bag. Its not black but does look pretty natural IMO.


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## ffmurray (Nov 10, 2014)

I used good quality pool filter sand, It wasnt super expensive, didnt require much washing and is large enough where you dont have to worry to much about anerobic pockets.

That being said I did see some sand that looked pretty good and was large enough to let the dirt breath in petsmart yesterday, and it wasnt to expensive if memory serves me right.


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## xxoczukxx (Aug 16, 2014)

thelub said:


> Small grain sands are fine as long as you don't go deep with them.


how deep would you say the sand should be if i have about 1.5 inches of dirt? Also, i heard that if i do dirt a small gravel layer then a sand layer it would be even better and prevent dirt from flying everywhere if i was messing with it. Is that overkill or does it actually help



ffmurray said:


> I used good quality pool filter sand, It wasnt super expensive, didnt require much washing and is large enough where you dont have to worry to much about anerobic pockets.


hmm i will check out petsmart later. my local petco doesnt have much, sadly, but i havent looked at petsmarts selection in months


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## erinbirdsong (Nov 15, 2013)

You should have 1" of dirt and 3/4" to 1" of topper. I would suggest no more that 1" of sand...


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

You CAN do the gravel layer with the sand on top but gravity WILL eventually pull the sand below the gravel. Snails, cories and any fish that picks at the substrate surface will speed this process up. One inch tops layer of sand will be great. You can do a deeper layer of soil than an inch if you have deep rooting plants in the deeper soil areas - plants like Vals, Swords, Crypts, Lilies and, Sagitarias.


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

Equal parts sand and cap will work. No more than 3" total seems to be the magic depth. Check your local hardware store or pool supply store for pool filter sand. Big box pet stores won't have it.


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