Can I Put Sand On Top Of Gravel?

[furry catfish]

Hi evetyone,prety straight foward,Can I put sand on top of gravel?

 

[fshinggrl]

I think that the sand will disapate to the bottom and the gravel will come up... best just to take the gravel out if you want sand in your tank.

 

[england]

You can but it will sink through, mind i love a gravel sand mix, have to be more sand than gravel, i had it in my three foot before shutting tank down,

 

[jacko32]

if your wanting to maintain a sand effect then you would have to remove the gravel completely

 

[ajs2294]

Your only option to maintain a sand look would be keep adding sand until all the space in the gravel is filled with sand and you have a layer of sand on top. It would be more practical and easier to clean if you stick with one substrate. Or you could make a divider and have sand half the tank and gravel the option or something along those lines.

 

[furry catfish]

Thanks eveyone,I think I'll change the substrate to sand

 

[furry catfish]

Oh also how long does it normally take for the dust to settle after you put the sand in?

 

[Jenste]

well depends on how you do it - -


fish in, or fish out?

are you draining down the tank?


FILTER OFF!!!!


if fish in - scoop it in with cups, submerge the cup in the water slowly so the sand stays in side the cup, and keep pouring it into the same corner. then use your hand to "smooth" the sand down and around the bottom - - minimal cloudiness that will settle in the next few hours.



if fish out - - drain down the tank, pour the sand in. lay a plate ONTOP of the sand - - pour water onto the plate to disperse the water flow - - - this method kicks up less sand than just dumping water on top of the sand and will give you less cloudiness. wait before turning the filter on until most of it is settled or you risk sucking up sand into your filter and jamming it.


i prefer fish out so you can mess around, rearrange etc with out stressing out the fish during the whole process.

 

[Always Learning]

It depends on how dusty it is to begin with and how long you take rinsing it through.

The best advice I can give is patience. Clean that sand as much as you can, then again for good measure, then take care when adding the water back to the tank. You can use a bowl/plate or tub of some sort to pour your water onto, to minimize the disturbing of the sand.

 

[ajs2294]

Its best to take the fish out if you can safely. Then lower your water level, remove the gravel, and add cleaned sand (With the filters off). You should clean your sand thoroughly to remove as much dust as you can before adding it to your tank. Some sands will take longer than other to clean, but it will take awhile patience is your friend here. The best way to clean it is to pour some into a bucket with a hose and move the sand around being careful not to let the sand escape but allow the water to leave the bucket. It is important to keep doing this as long as you can until the water begins to look clear this could be 5 minutes or 20 minutes a bucket. Then slowly add it to your tank, allow it to settle for an hour or so and then put back in your fish turn your filters on and depending on how well you cleaned the sand it should be clear as soon as overnight to 2 days. If it isn't clearing as fast as you'd like do your normal water changes to speed up the process. When I changed my 29G to play sand I'd say the whole procedure took a good 3 hours and it cleared overnight.
Good Luck!

 

[furry catfish]

I am currently doing fish out but I had already put the water in,without using a plate, before I posted again.I rinsed the sand until the water i was washing it with was basicaly clear.The water levels are now perfect and,I think dechlorinated.

 

[ajs2294]

Did you add dechlorinator if you did its dechlorinated

 

[furry catfish]

I did but it never really says on the bottle how long it takes to have an effect and I've heard it varies

 

[SlyPolak]

Dechlorinators work instantly, as soon as it has contact with the water its dechlorinated. You may only have to wait a bit of time so it gets circulated through all the water.

 

[kizno1]

Ive had sand and gravel mix before but i had sand at on end, gravel at the other and it mixed together in the middle. I have sand in all my tanks (4) and they have all taken between 12-48 hours to settle so it just dependence how gently you add it.