What substrate should I get?

[Skyler]

I’m working on a 10 gallon tank for my Betta fish and two Nerite snails. I’m thinking about Caribsea Carolina Creek or Torpedo Beach, I want the substrate to be fine enough to look similar to sand but also coarse enough that I can gravel vac without worrying about it getting sucked into the vacuum. I currently have black sand (Aqua Natural Galaxy) I absolutely hate it. 
What should I get?

[johnnyxxl]

I am using playground sand and pea gravel mixed

[Guppysnail]

I looked for this exact combination for years.  Having tried dozens I hated them all. 
I finally tried Carib-Sea Jungle river sand. It looks like sand vacuums like gravel.  I switch 16 tanks to this and set up 5 more with this. I love it. 

[Skyler]

Thank y’all!

Edited March 28 by Skyler

[clownbaby]

If you have a river, stream, or lake nearby, go get your rocks there! Try for pea-sized to raindrop size. For my thirty gallons, I needed about 30 pounds, so try to get at least ten pounds. If you want a specific color or texture, get twenty pounds and sort through it. Or scout out several sites and pick your favorite. Make sure this is legal in your area, and if it is, remember: do not interfere with wildlife and do not overharvest.

I also recommend pea gravel from your local home & garden store -- it is way cheaper than "fish tank" pea gravel. If you live in the US, check out Home Depot. A forty pound bag of brown pea gravel is about six bucks. SUPER CHEAP! And it looks really natural. You will need to wash this stuff more than regular "fish tank" gravel, because it will be very dusty. It is not treated with any bad chemicals or anything: fish safe!

If you get your rocks from a river/stream/lake/etc, boil it!! This is non-negotiable. Then let it sit to dry for at least 48 hours.  

I used pea gravel for my tank, which has snails, and he has no problem getting over it. You could mix sand in if you're worried about it being too rough/bumpy for your nerites though! 

I am cheap so this is the way I went about things - pet stores selling a 5 pound bag of rocks for twenty bucks is insane when you compare with generic garden stuff. However if you don't care about price... go for the special substrates! They definitely will need less washing, sorting, and mixing. I hope my cheap input helped!

[Skyler]

@clownbaby Those are some great ideas! Thank you!

[Bsquared]

That Caribsea Jungle River looks nice!

 

[Whitecloud09]

I am a plain gravel guy, but if your looking for something to pop, get some normal colored gravel (like the tan grey and black rock) and some galaxy black gravel and mix, and a idea I have for a 5g I am setting up isi will make a normal gravel all around and then get some black gravel as a path to lead out of a cave and river rocks on the side of the path @Skyler!

[Tanked]

If you run with the pea gravel idea, shop around and take a water bottle or shop on a rainy day.  Different stores source their gravel from different vendors, resulting in different colors. There will almost always be a damaged bag, and a little water will tell you what it will look like in the aquarium.  There may also be a healthy discount on a damaged bag.

You might also look into horticultural sand.  This will be a coarse sand, but smaller than gravel.

[anewbie]

None of your fishes are substrate shifter so the grain size is totally up to you. There are advantages to both coarse and fine gravel with regards to long term (multi-year) upkeep. I have a personal liking to pool filter sand (cheap-i use hth); and estes stoney river (black substrate that is not painted; as it is very fine with high density); i've found plants grow well in both substrates and i've not had any issues with either (though my aquarium with hth pool filter sand are not that old yet); I'm not as pleased with jungle river or torpedo beach - both i've used - but both look nice and then it comes down to colour preference. For a 10 cost shouldn't be a big deal but for larger aquariums it can be a factor. 

I can't really say why the estes stoney river (black) has done so well over the years compared to my caraibsea substrates - something about the properties but i've not had any issues with gas pockets forming in it (which has been a major headache with all caribsea substrates i've used; though the fine stuff like moonlight is far worse than torpedo beach and jungle river).