55Gallon-Make-Over

[JoKeR]

Well my 55gallon is starting to embarassed me with the pink and blue gravel. So im changing to sand. I fund some play-sand at toys-r-us today for 5 dollars and get the other free! So im getting that im gonna clean the sand in some buckets and then transfer it to my 55.

Also Im only gonna waste around 10 dollars on the sand what kinda of lights do u need to grow a variety of plnats?

 

[parker313]

YAY, thanks for posting! I'm making the switch today myself. Glad to hear of the sale on sand

 

[jordan barnhart]

All I can tell you is to follow the basic rules of plants. I use fertilizer sticks in my tank wich you can stick into your substrate and it fertilizes and gives your plants nutrients to grow and thrive. onto lighting

what kind of lights do u need to grow a variety of plnats

Depends on some plants. Just use the basic 2watts of lighting per gallon.. Example -

My 10 gallons have 25 watts of lighting. Slightly over 2w/g. 30 has 2 40w bulbs. almost 3/wpg. my 55 has 4 40watt bulbs.. Plus it is heavily planted.

co2 works wonders too

 

[cat.fish]

with sand you wanter will be cloudy for a few days.

 

[parker313]

with sand you wanter will be cloudy for a few days.

I noticed this I washed and washed and washed my sand and my tank is still cloudy. I can see the differentiation between the plants along the back and the background, but still no real definition.

I lost one of my little 3-lined cories in the process though

Oh, I got my sand at Lowe's - Premium Play Sand for less than $3. I asked the guy how much was in a bag and he said 50lbs, but I got it all in my 46gal and I don't think it was a 50lb bag. Oh well, it was just what I needed.

 

[Rdelusion]

I'm thinking of going with sand but when the tank is up and running how do you clean the sand?

With gravel you can put in a gravel vac contraption that sucks the gravel up a little but then it falls back to the ground while the dirt gets syphoned out, I assume with sand it would just syphon the sand out as well?!

 

[parker313]

The nice thing about sand is that there are no cracks for the stuff to fall into, so you just wave the siphon over the surface and it hoovers it right off the sand. At least that's what I've been told

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

I'm thinking of going with sand but when the tank is up and running how do you clean the sand?

Just pour it in a 5 gallon bucket in sections at a time outside, hold the hose nozzle close to the sand so it stirs it as the water pours in. Pour out all of the water once the bucket is full (try not to pour out too much sand), and start again until the water is clear. Ideally you should have another 5 gallon bucket also, to add the cleaned sand to. After your done, siphon enough water out of your tanks so that the now empty bucket is half full. Add all of your fish to this bucket (use an aerator in the bucket if you have one) and then drain the tank as much as possible. Remove the gavel (may want another bucket for this) and add the sand. Fill the tank back up (have the spray from the bucket/hose land in a plate so you do not stir up the sand) and make sure the filter is OFF, as a single sand granule can destroy your impeller. Add your fish to the tank again (since it is all new water, you may also want to acclimatise them a little by filling the bucket another quarter full of new water, so it is not a complete shock) and once the sand settles (although the water may still be cloudy) turn the filter back on.

With gravel you can put in a gravel vac contraption that sucks the gravel up a little but then it falls back to the ground while the dirt gets syphoned out, I assume with sand it would just syphon the sand out as well?!

Sand and gravel are both about the same density, so you can put the siphon pretty close without sucking up the sand.