Adding Sand To A Mature Tank

[bolivian_d]

Hey,

I've decided that I want to add sand to my tank. It's mature, fully stocked and 1/4 planted. Is it still possible to add sand without removing everything? It's a small tank, 20G/75L.

I want to removed a proportion of the gravel and just add a layer of sand on top. I don't think it would be a good idea to just tip the sand in, I was thinking of putting small proportions of the sand into a plastic bag and tipping it out inside the water, close to the substrate. Do you think that this will work?

My second question is does sand present problems when vaccuming? I imagine most of it would be siphoned out.

Thanks,

Don

 

[erk628]

Hey,

I've decided that I want to add sand to my tank. It's mature, fully stocked and 1/4 planted. Is it still possible to add sand without removing everything? It's a small tank, 20G/75L.

I want to removed a proportion of the gravel and just add a layer of sand on top. I don't think it would be a good idea to just tip the sand in, I was thinking of putting small proportions of the sand into a plastic bag and tipping it out inside the water, close to the substrate. Do you think that this will work?

My second question is does sand present problems when vaccuming? I imagine most of it would be siphoned out.

Thanks,

Don

You can put sand in without taking things out! I have done it before, I usually get a plastic cup like the take home cups you get at baseball and football games. Things will get really really cloudy but will settle in a couple hours to over night.

With cleaning sand I use a gravel vac but take the plastic tube off and just use the hose. You then hover over the top and it comes right up. At first you will suck quit a bit of sand up until you figure out how far you have to be from the sand. Heck I still suck a little up, you may want to put in a little more then you want because some will get sucked up. Also make sure to stir the sand up once in awhile to make sure gas pockets are not forming. I usually stir mine up once a week during water changes.

 

[bolivian_d]

Thanks for the reply.

My LFS stocks white sand for Marine tanks. That's all they had. I wish I had more info for you, do you see any reason why I couldn't use it for a freshwater tank?

 

[jpjagged]

Thanks for the reply.

My LFS stocks white sand for Marine tanks. That's all they had. I wish I had more info for you, do you see any reason why I couldn't use it for a freshwater tank?

If you want to go a cheaper route, buy silica sand aka pool filter sand. It works great and is bright. i think it goes for around $8.99 for 50 lb bags... can be found at a pool supply store/ this is what i use in my planted discus tank with no problems yet.

and i have added sand to an already filled tank before... what i do is use a bowl of some sort and after you have washed the sand in a bucket with running water to make sure it doesn't cloud the water just scoop the sand then take it to the tank, tilt the bowl just slightly to let water water run in gently then you can lower it to the bottom of the tank and just dump it out wherever you need it