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Rat Sand is a much better substrate.
I use one of these while doing a water change
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Aqu...9?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item4856f8f8eb
Back onto the sand...
sand will also help clean your tank as the bacteria inside it will also help eat crap (to put it blunt lol), that does not mean that you can overfeed as even though sand is a natural filter (so to speak), it will also become a nitrate factory if not stirred and cleaned regular or the bacteria cannot handle the feeding.
The thing with sand and I cannot speak about fresh water as I do not know, but you should see what type of creatures will sift the sand without eating the good bacteria...
It will be cloudy the first time you introduce it mate... that is natural, it will also settle down.
You may get a small spike in nitrate (hopefully not nitrite and ammonia) when you introduce a new bacteria source, so do it slowly, and if you can ask your fish shop for a cup of their sand (as long as the tanks are clean of course and you trust them!!!) to help the bacteria settle down and kick off the cycle stages.
Clean your sand once a week by stirring it which will also help your filter catch any crap that has not been cycled.
if you put a little in at a time over a day it will help with the cloudy tank syndrome.
Mick