Thuggerz
Fish Crazy
Hi there, i was thinking of putting sand into my tank but not sure if it would harm the fish, if i feed them and food drops onto the sand will they swollow the sand?
Change To Sand?
- Thread starter Thuggerz
- Start date
blitztidus
Spirited Away
I would take out the fish first as it can clog their gills 
Thuggerz
Fish Crazy
I would take out the fish first as it can clog their gills
Hi, I'll be sure to do that but will the fish be able to swallow the sand?...
thanx for the help in advance
fish can and will swallow sand. apparently it aids in digestion. check the pinned topics about sand. I believe there is a very good one in the beginners section. Make sure you rinse the sand very very well. Also if you have a magnetic driven impeller for a hang on the back filter you should invest in a pre-filter sponge to put over your intake. This should help protect your impeller from sand.
Iron Man
Fish Addict
Most fish are well equipped to deal with sand on the ground, and some in the water, some more than others. That means most any fish you buy at a pet store will be able to be fine with a little stirred up sand/cloudy water, and to eat food from the bottom of a sandy substrate just fine.
Sand is actually better for most of them than gravel. For instance, goldfish love to search the bottom of the tank for food and most make it a big habit. With sand, they just take a little, taste it, and spit it out...no harm done. With gravel however, they will take it in their mouths and taste it....even larger pieces that may get stuck in their mouths or throats. Not a good thought.....but it happens more than you'd think.
Cory cats require sand as they have a natural propensity to dig...sometimes sticking their whole faces into the sand, in search of buried food. Gravel can wear down their barbels and just plain hurts compared to sand.
Some are designed to be sand filtering like the shrimp goby in my saltwater tank. He takes a bunch of sand in his mouth and "filters" out any food, the food stays and the sand goes out his gills.
Cloudy water from putting sand in is fine for the fish as long as its not ridiculously cloudy....clean the sand as well as possible and pour it out as close to the bottom as possible....don't just pour it in from the top of the tank.
The impellor of your filter will be fine as long as you don't have a fish spitting sand into the intake tube every day.
Sand is actually better for most of them than gravel. For instance, goldfish love to search the bottom of the tank for food and most make it a big habit. With sand, they just take a little, taste it, and spit it out...no harm done. With gravel however, they will take it in their mouths and taste it....even larger pieces that may get stuck in their mouths or throats. Not a good thought.....but it happens more than you'd think.
Cory cats require sand as they have a natural propensity to dig...sometimes sticking their whole faces into the sand, in search of buried food. Gravel can wear down their barbels and just plain hurts compared to sand.
Some are designed to be sand filtering like the shrimp goby in my saltwater tank. He takes a bunch of sand in his mouth and "filters" out any food, the food stays and the sand goes out his gills.
Cloudy water from putting sand in is fine for the fish as long as its not ridiculously cloudy....clean the sand as well as possible and pour it out as close to the bottom as possible....don't just pour it in from the top of the tank.
The impellor of your filter will be fine as long as you don't have a fish spitting sand into the intake tube every day.
Iron man that was a very good post...but about the impeller. I have only had a sand tank for about a month now but when I do water changes I can here the impeller grinding up sand. It sounds horrible and It seems that it will make my filter wear out faster. is it really not a concern?
Iron Man
Fish Addict
Thanks Torrean.
If you're stirring up sand during your water changes and the grains are getting into your filter so much that its grinding in the impellor....that's a concern. That's obviously what's happening, right?
If that's the case I would either try to stir up as little sand as possible or invest in/make a sponge pre-filter for the intake tube.
For water changes I stick a python in the tank and hover it gently over the sand, sucking up the poop that accumulates on top but doesn't get much sand. When I'm ready to put clean water in I reverse the valve on the python and set it near the top of the water line/tank.....and no sand is stirred up at all.
I've used a jug to change water with sand in the tank before, and in that case I would stir up the sand a little, just to get the poop going high into the water, but not enough to stir a lot of sand...and never stir sand up near the intake tube of the filter....then I'd scoop what water out I wanted to change. I'd then place the jug with the clean water back in the water, and turn it over.....gently releasing the water into the tank. I've never just poured water into it....but I imagine you can do that too as long as its poured gently.
Also, I would never put my intake tube close to the sand.....I would cut it to shorten it if I had to.
Honestly, I've never had a problem because I've been careful. Maybe you're doing the right thing by getting a pre filter for the intake or making one and suggesting it to others, but yes it will slow down your filter and you shouldn't need it if you follow certain precautions.
Hope it works out whatever you do because sand in the impellors isn't good, as you're obviously aware.
If you're stirring up sand during your water changes and the grains are getting into your filter so much that its grinding in the impellor....that's a concern. That's obviously what's happening, right?
If that's the case I would either try to stir up as little sand as possible or invest in/make a sponge pre-filter for the intake tube.
For water changes I stick a python in the tank and hover it gently over the sand, sucking up the poop that accumulates on top but doesn't get much sand. When I'm ready to put clean water in I reverse the valve on the python and set it near the top of the water line/tank.....and no sand is stirred up at all.
I've used a jug to change water with sand in the tank before, and in that case I would stir up the sand a little, just to get the poop going high into the water, but not enough to stir a lot of sand...and never stir sand up near the intake tube of the filter....then I'd scoop what water out I wanted to change. I'd then place the jug with the clean water back in the water, and turn it over.....gently releasing the water into the tank. I've never just poured water into it....but I imagine you can do that too as long as its poured gently.
Also, I would never put my intake tube close to the sand.....I would cut it to shorten it if I had to.
Honestly, I've never had a problem because I've been careful. Maybe you're doing the right thing by getting a pre filter for the intake or making one and suggesting it to others, but yes it will slow down your filter and you shouldn't need it if you follow certain precautions.
Hope it works out whatever you do because sand in the impellors isn't good, as you're obviously aware.
Thuggerz
Fish Crazy
ohh well, i'm gonna go ahead and change from gravel to sand and see how it goes...do most fish shops sell aquarium sand?
Captain Retardo
Fish Herder
yes, but i have heard that hardware and gardening shops are better because they have pool filter sand, and play sand (also much cheaper!)
Thuggerz
Fish Crazy
does anyone know what's the best sand to buy?...Cheers!
I think your right Iron man. In a tank as small as a ten I think it is more of a concern because the water is so shallow. Pouring the water in stirs up the substrate alot. I don't use a python to refill my tens I only use it on my 55 but I imagine it would eliminate the problem because it can pour the water in at an angle. If the water were deeper it probably wouldn't stir up the sand like it does in my tank. I think i'll try different methods of refilling before I use the intake prefilter or recommend that anyone else does that. I got kinda freaked out because my sister's hob came with a warning saying that using sand in the tank voids the warranty. But now that I think more about it it would be alot cheaper and easier to replace an impeller than it would be to replace a motor. I don't think I'll be using a prefilter even if the sand in the impeller problem continues. I think i'll just invest in a spare impeller for my filters.
regarding the question about which sand to use here are a few links. They can be found in the pinned topics.
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=71597
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=131373
regarding the question about which sand to use here are a few links. They can be found in the pinned topics.
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=71597http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=131373
Iron Man
Fish Addict
I've always gotten "playsand" which is cleaned and sterilized sand for children's sandboxes. Its the cheapest you can buy, in America anyway. But its also pretty dusty and will take some patience when you do go to wash it out.
Pool filter sand is very similar although I don't have any experience with that.....I hear its a lot more dust free.
Yea I'd just try and change the way I filled the tank. My Eheim canister has a heavy duty motor and is made for running hot so hard work, clogging, prefilters, etc are no problem for that but I wouldn't impede the flow of a HOB as the motor isn't made for that much strain. I'm still not saying its a bad idea as I'm no expert but I wouldn't do it myself.
You are right....a 10 gallon is a lot more shallow and I can understand where you're coming from. I guess having had sand for so many years in the 55 gallon before I had it in this 10 gallon saltwater tank I have....I was very experienced with working with it so it was automatic to be very careful without even thinking about it.
Hope it all works out for yall....I've had sand for years now and still think its the best choice for substrate you can make!
Pool filter sand is very similar although I don't have any experience with that.....I hear its a lot more dust free.
Yea I'd just try and change the way I filled the tank. My Eheim canister has a heavy duty motor and is made for running hot so hard work, clogging, prefilters, etc are no problem for that but I wouldn't impede the flow of a HOB as the motor isn't made for that much strain. I'm still not saying its a bad idea as I'm no expert but I wouldn't do it myself.
You are right....a 10 gallon is a lot more shallow and I can understand where you're coming from. I guess having had sand for so many years in the 55 gallon before I had it in this 10 gallon saltwater tank I have....I was very experienced with working with it so it was automatic to be very careful without even thinking about it.
Hope it all works out for yall....I've had sand for years now and still think its the best choice for substrate you can make!
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