I started a 10 gallon all-in-one tank last year sometime, i added about 1/2" of course white sand. Several months later it wasn't so white anymore and if I stirred it up at all out came a cloud of junk (detritus). So out with the sand and went bare bottom, well I forgot to paint the bottom of the tank black so it looked kinda crappy, not long after that I put in 1/2" of black sand, looked great for months but same thing, trapped fish poop and clouded the water if it was stirred up. Several months later I replaced the tank with a duplicate, this time blacked out the bottom using a vinyl decal. Couldn't be happier
I love the look of sand at first but more downsides to it than bare bottom in my experience.. My vote, take it out. At least you won't have anything growing on your sand anymore. Just make sure you have adequate flow to keep the bottom tidy
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