WIO > Sand

WIO's sands are the finest grade in the range — the material that goes in the foreground, fills the gaps between stones, and reads as the open bed of a river. Eight color families, each matching stones and riverbeds elsewhere in the range, so a sand can be chosen to belong to a scape rather than just to sit under it.

The colors

• Vik Iceland, Heaven, Himalaya — the pale, cool sands. They bounce light upward, make a small tank read as larger, and set off dark fish and dark hardscape. They also show every speck of debris.
• Canyon, El Dorado, Tigris — warm tan and golden tones. The most natural-looking option for a general community or river biotope, and forgiving of light detritus between cleans.
• Inferno, Bumblebee — the strongly colored and patterned options. Distinctive, and they set the whole palette of the tank, so choose the hardscape at the same time rather than afterwards.

Where sand goes, and where it does not

Sand belongs at the front and in open areas, sloping up and back into coarser material. That progression — fine at the front, coarser behind — is what a real watercourse does, and it exaggerates depth in a way a uniform bed never will.

It is a poor rooting medium. Fine grains compact, which restricts root growth and can create anaerobic pockets in a deep bed. Keep sand areas shallow, an inch or so, and put heavily rooted plants into aquasoil or coarser substrate behind. If you want plants in the sand area, root tabs pushed under them are the practical answer.

Keeping the line clean

The usual disappointment with a two-material bed is that sand and substrate migrate into each other within weeks and the crisp line you built disappears. Two things prevent it: a physical barrier buried at the boundary — a low row of stones, or a strip of rigid plastic sunk below the surface — and keeping flow off the sand surface. A powerhead aimed across an open sand bed will redistribute it for you.

Do not vacuum sand the way you would gravel. Hover the siphon just above the surface and lift debris off rather than digging in, or you will pull the sand out with it.

Rinse before use

Blended natural material carries fines. Rinse in batches in a bucket until the water runs clear before it goes anywhere near a filled tank, and add water to the finished scape slowly onto a plate. Skipping this gives you a week of cloudy water and a filter full of silt.

A note on chemistry

WIO does not publish hardness or pH data for these blends, so if you keep soft-water species, test a pinch with white vinegar before committing: fizzing means carbonate content that will raise hardness over time, no reaction means inert. Irrelevant for community tanks on San Diego's hard tap water; important for Caridina shrimp and soft-water breeding projects.

Sizes

3 kg and 5 kg bags. A shallow foreground in a mid-size tank is usually one or two 5 kg bags; buy the full amount in one go, because blended products vary slightly between batches and a topped-up bed can show a seam.

See it wet first

Sand color changes completely under water — usually darker and warmer than the bag suggests. We will wet a sample at the Convoy store so you can see the real thing. See also WIO Riverbeds for the mixed-grain beds, gravel for the coarser grades, and the full aquascaping range.