Im getting a new tank!!! to transfer my gfs to a 55 gl I was reading that gravel can get stuck in thier mouths and to really use sand .... sand??? like playgroung , beach sand???? I have no clue what to do , can plecos live with sand???

I personally had an experience where I had to Quarrantine a new Goldie in a Sand substrate tank. I will say that after seeing this Black Oranda,inhale tons of white sand,and actually see it coming out of his gills,that sand in the long run can not be a good thing. Although most of the sand probably gets spit out,you cannot convince me that it all comes out.There has to be sand in there irritating his gills,& that cannot be a good thing in the long run. Sand substrates are also alot harder to clean/tend to ruin alot of good filter's that suck it up the intake tubes,and are more suseptible(sp?) to Aeromona pockets if not regularly stirred.

No Sand, I strongly advise against it!! Your better off with either Gravel or Barebottom. Sand can get in their gills, and you know how it feels to have sand in your shorts!!!!!!! Just imagine having sand in your lungs. Leave sand to the Salts and leave it out for the Fresh.

so being my goldies aregetting huge should I just get rock?? or larger gravel so it wont get stukin their mouths???

Using river rocks or rocks that are small enough for them to spit out are good. Even bare bottom can be nice.

Can I ask a question about the sand?

No one seems to think its a good idea with goldfish, but Cichlids dig around in it all the time and they are fine with it coming out the gills. Is there any reason why goldies shouldnt have sand other than it comes out the gills as to me it seems a natural thing for cichlids to do and im assuming that the structure of the gills is similar in all fish??

from what I know of cichlids they like to dig mainly for nesting so maybe they do have hardier gills than gf other than that i don't know

You do have a point there Sandy.I have no data on it at all though.I can only go by what I think with what I saw.Sand substrates are pretty nice on the eyes,so if anyone does know the facts,please share with us.

Congrats on your new tank! Hopefully I'll eventually get a tank that's large as yours...

Any ways, my suitemate started off with sand for his goldfish, but like Devs said, his goldfish started to get a trail of sand coming out of his gills. After a week my suitemate changed to gravel, which according to him is easier to clean too.
But otherwise, I read that almost any kind of sand is supposedly fine as long as it is washed with water first.

As for Sandy's question, I've read somewhere that the crucian carp (ancestor of goldfish) lived in rivers and ponds that did not have sand (instead gravel/rocks), and did not have strong "immunity" to it. As a result, goldfish didn't have that strong immunity either, while cichlids have been living with sand for a loong time (nesting and feeding) and are highly compatible with it.
I don't know how much is true, but.... kind of makes sense I guess.