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As substrate I'm thinking about white sand but all I can find is vita sand and it's expensive. The back of my tank is black and Iajust bought some mopani wood and I think together it would look great. What other kinds of white sand can I buy and where? Also how do you clean sand once its in the tank

Pool filter sand is cheap and white. It's usually $8-10 for a 50# bag. Hardware stores or pool stores will carry this type of sand.
Home Depot also sells something labeled Kiln Dried HandySand. Handysand is also white and in the same price range.

If you have very good filtration there isn't much you need to do to clean sand. The sand will pack down and any gunk will sit on top. As the turtle moves around or as water current passes by, the gunk is pushed back up into the water column where the filter can process it.

If your filter isn't super powerful, you may need to manually swoosh the top layer of sand to get the gunk up for the filter to grab. A mesh scoop or similar inexpensive kitchen utensil works well.

[quote="VeipaCray"]Pool filter sand is cheap and white. It's usually $8-10 for a 50# bag. Hardware stores or pool stores will carry this type of sand.
Home Depot also sells something labeled Kiln Dried HandySand. Handysand is also white and in the same price range.

If you have very good filtration there isn't much you need to do to clean sand. The sand will pack down and any gunk will sit on top. As the turtle moves around or as water current passes by, the gunk is pushed back up into the water column where the filter can process it.

If your filter isn't super powerful, you may need to manually swoosh the top layer of sand to get the gunk up for the filter to grab. A mesh scoop or similar inexpensive kitchen utensil works well.[/quoinfo

I found handy sand at menards for 6$ a bag but its way too fine and not white enough for my liking. I'm now looking for Mystic White II pool filter sand.
Thanks for the info.

The bag from home depot was bright white... not sure if Menards had the same brand. While I didn't use the handy sand in my turtle tank, it did a great job filling my speaker stands

Let us know what you find.