Big Mistake!

[connorsbala]

Hi,
I have tried changing my substrate from gravel to the nutrient sand stuff. So i took all the water and gravel out(and obviously water). The water went a dreaful brown colour! Ive been doing water changes and that hasnt worked either.
Ive truly messed up my tank here What should i do?!

 

[hoplosternum]

Hi,
I have tried changing my substrate from gravel to the nutrient sand stuff. So i took all the water and gravel out(and obviously water). The water went a dreaful brown colour! Ive been doing water changes and that hasnt worked either.
Ive truly messed up my tank here What should i do?!

Switching to sand was a good idea in theory but the fact of the matter is that it's a royal pain in the butt to maintain. Unless it is absolutely needed I would ditch the sand and go back to small
sized gravel. It is by far and away easier to clean and you don't have to worry so much about sand getting in your filters not to mention that you would have to be very meticulous about
syphoning off waste and debris every day.

 

[John59]

Do you have any fish in??

 

[diet]

and how long have you let the tank settle??
it will settle eventually just keep changing the white foam pads on your filters when they wont clean out anymore

 

[ncjharris]

Patience. The water will stay cloudy for a long time, and it will take several water changes before it is crystal (or anywhere near).

Keep an eye on it and remember to agitate the sand before you suction to avoid any gas pocket buildup

 

[NoRp]

why do people not just clean the sand before use.. power drill paint mixer = sorted in 10 mins u lose alot of sand but its very time saving

 

[Tsi_User]

Hi,
I have tried changing my substrate from gravel to the nutrient sand stuff. So i took all the water and gravel out(and obviously water). The water went a dreaful brown colour! Ive been doing water changes and that hasnt worked either.
Ive truly messed up my tank here What should i do?!

Switching to sand was a good idea in theory but the fact of the matter is that it's a royal pain in the butt to maintain. Unless it is absolutely needed I would ditch the sand and go back to small
sized gravel. It is by far and away easier to clean and you don't have to worry so much about sand getting in your filters not to mention that you would have to be very meticulous about
syphoning off waste and debris every day.

I wouldn't go as far to say that gravel is way easier to maintain, i actually find cleaning the sand ALOT easier in our sand tank.

 

[ghent_3rd]

I have just changed to sand 2 days ago and am well pleased with the result. I didn't even wash mine as the guy in my LFS, a total legend he is aswell, says he never washes his and hey presto after a couple of hours the tank looked just as clear, if not clearer due to 50% water change, than it did with the gravel in. It all looks so much lighter in there also now.

Persevere with the sand, it will truly be worth it.

 

[madmom]

Iswitched to sand a while back and love it. The only bad point is you see all the waste products and have to vac more often to keep it lookin good.

 

[John59]

I vote to that it is my problem too have to vac every day

 

[PENNYWISE]

I changed m y substrate to sand about 3 weeks ago, i love it my plecs love it.
About the cleaning part that dosent bother me every other day i take 2 buckets out that amount of water is syphoned and the sand is clean, itseasy to do aswell

 

[Nick Bramley]

sorry to go off topic but ive just put crushed gravel in my tank, basically just larger grains of sand and just wondered what kind of schedule you would use to maintain the tank, i already do a 20% water change every week, add a capful of cycle biological booster and vac the dirt off the top my substrate once a week, anything else?

Thanks, Nick