changing from gravel to sand
good site for substrates?
sand in your tank
sand as substrate
I recently changed my girlfriends 29 gallon from gravel to sand. I think i've got it figured out so I thought I'd share. I'm aware there is already a pinned topic on this but i figured what the heck.
Step 1 choosing your sand
There are tons of sands out there. You can go with one type or blend several to get a particular effect. I chose to blend play sand, all purpose sand, and pea gravel. each sand has a different look and grain size. They also vary in what they are made of. Some sands will affect your PH such as coral sand. All sand can damage impeller driven filters but silica sand is very hard and I've heard is worse about this. If you are worried about your filter add a prefilter sponge onto your intake and make sure the intake is 2-3 inches above the sand. Also when refilling your tank you should pour the water in as far from the intake as possible. If your very worried about it you can turn off your filter during water changes.
Most people will tell you that all purpose sand is cleaner than play sand and is easier to clean. IME this is not true. When I cleaned play sand it took a lot less time and the first time i filled the tank the water was a lot clearer than it was when I added all purpose sand.
step 2 rinseing and blending
I put a 1 inch layer of 3 parts play sand 3 parts all purpose sand and one part pea gravel into my clean 5 gallon aquarium. You will probably want to put the 5 gallon onto a towel or something if you are working on concrete to keep from cracking the thing. I then filled the tank with a water hose. As the tank filled the stream from the hose stirred up the sand and gravel mixing them together. Once the water reached the rim I counted to 3 to let the heaviest particles settle but keep the lightest suspended. Then I dumped out water until the sand reached the rim of the tank. imho fishtanks are best for this because they are clear and they have an inset rim which catches the sand buckets will work though. Repeat this process until the water clears completely in 10 seconds. You must rinse atleast this well for the rest of my process to work. Don't skimp or you'll be looking at a tank full of mud for a few days. Once the water clears in ten seconds I dump out the clean water and put the sand into a large clean rubbermaid container. Then I refill the 5 gallon and start over.
step 3 removing the gravel
I used a net for this but a cup or your hand should work too. First for 2-3 days before you remove your gravel do thorough gravel vaccumings. This will help keep scum in your gravel from escaping into the water as your remove the gravel. Once your gravel is clean you can begin to remove it. I did not remove fish for this because it simply isn't neccessary IMHO. Set a container next to your fishtank that is big enough to hold all of your gravel...or several containers if you will be removing a very large amount of gravel. lay a towel out and put all your fake plants decorations and so forth on the towel. If you have bottom dwellers it's a good idea to leave a plant or ornament in the tank for them to hide in so that you know where they are. It's kinda scary wondering whether you caught a khuli loach with that scoop of gravel. Dip the net in and scoop out a load of gravel. Dump it in the bucket and scoop out another load... once all the gravel is gone you can take out the gravel container and bring in your sand container.
Step 4 adding the sand
At this point you should turn off all impeller driven filters!!! VERY IMPORTANT STEP. Get a small cup...around coffee cup size. Make sure it's clean...(this includes soap, detergent, etc.) Scoop out a load of sand and put it in the tank with the top up. take the cup to the bottom and fairly gently pour it onto the glass. At this point you will realize whether you rinsed well enough or not. That's about it really...
step 5 benefits of blending sand and gravel
If you got bored of gravel and acctually went through the process of change to sand then chances are that you will get bored of sand too. So what to do...this is the great thing about blending sand. If you want a straight sand substrate then you can take your finger and push any gravel that is exposed down into the sand. Once you get bored of straight sand then run your net through the substrate and then shake it near the bottom. The sand will sift out. Then pour the gravel into the corner if you want a gravel patch or sprinkle it across the top if you want a scattered effect. If you want more gravel just get more out of the sand. Then once you get bored with that then you can just run your hand through the sand and mix it all up again and then push any exposed stones down into the sand again.
Step 6 caring for sand
sand is a little different from gravel in the maintenance area. Unlike gravel it will let you know when it needs to be cleaned. The particles are so small that food and poop can't fit through the grains. This means that it will show dirt. this stuff just sinks down into gravel. So how do you clean sand...well you take your gravel vaccuum and hold it about 1/2-1 inch above the sand, depending on the strength of the syphon. this will suck up all the muck without getting much sand. You'll lose a bit but not too much.
If you have a sand bed deeper than say 1/2-1 inch then you will have to stir your substrate somehow because there is no oxygen deep in the sand, therefore anaerobic bacteria colonize this area and produce poisonous gases (smells like rotten eggs) the bacteria will also turn your sand black... stirring the sand will prevent these bacteria from colonizing and it can be done several ways. I run my hands through the sand at water changes. I also keep Malaysian trumpet snails which love to burrow in the sand. The other way I stir my sand is with bottom dwellers. Cories, khulis, some puffers, lots of other fish love digging around in sand and will happilly stir it for you.
Here are some pictures of my girlfriends tank before and after the change. Don't mind the water spots I didn't notice them until after I took the pictures. Oh and the water is a little cloudy from the muck under the gravel...(i didn't do the gravel vaccuming i recommended earlier) I'll take some more pics in a couple days and see what it looks like with clear water. And please ignore the plants...I'm gonna increase the lighting in her tank because I can't talk her out of live plants and she can't keep them alive. I think her problem is the lighting.
good site for substrates?
sand in your tank
sand as substrate
I recently changed my girlfriends 29 gallon from gravel to sand. I think i've got it figured out so I thought I'd share. I'm aware there is already a pinned topic on this but i figured what the heck.
Step 1 choosing your sand
There are tons of sands out there. You can go with one type or blend several to get a particular effect. I chose to blend play sand, all purpose sand, and pea gravel. each sand has a different look and grain size. They also vary in what they are made of. Some sands will affect your PH such as coral sand. All sand can damage impeller driven filters but silica sand is very hard and I've heard is worse about this. If you are worried about your filter add a prefilter sponge onto your intake and make sure the intake is 2-3 inches above the sand. Also when refilling your tank you should pour the water in as far from the intake as possible. If your very worried about it you can turn off your filter during water changes.
Most people will tell you that all purpose sand is cleaner than play sand and is easier to clean. IME this is not true. When I cleaned play sand it took a lot less time and the first time i filled the tank the water was a lot clearer than it was when I added all purpose sand.
step 2 rinseing and blending
I put a 1 inch layer of 3 parts play sand 3 parts all purpose sand and one part pea gravel into my clean 5 gallon aquarium. You will probably want to put the 5 gallon onto a towel or something if you are working on concrete to keep from cracking the thing. I then filled the tank with a water hose. As the tank filled the stream from the hose stirred up the sand and gravel mixing them together. Once the water reached the rim I counted to 3 to let the heaviest particles settle but keep the lightest suspended. Then I dumped out water until the sand reached the rim of the tank. imho fishtanks are best for this because they are clear and they have an inset rim which catches the sand buckets will work though. Repeat this process until the water clears completely in 10 seconds. You must rinse atleast this well for the rest of my process to work. Don't skimp or you'll be looking at a tank full of mud for a few days. Once the water clears in ten seconds I dump out the clean water and put the sand into a large clean rubbermaid container. Then I refill the 5 gallon and start over.
step 3 removing the gravel
I used a net for this but a cup or your hand should work too. First for 2-3 days before you remove your gravel do thorough gravel vaccumings. This will help keep scum in your gravel from escaping into the water as your remove the gravel. Once your gravel is clean you can begin to remove it. I did not remove fish for this because it simply isn't neccessary IMHO. Set a container next to your fishtank that is big enough to hold all of your gravel...or several containers if you will be removing a very large amount of gravel. lay a towel out and put all your fake plants decorations and so forth on the towel. If you have bottom dwellers it's a good idea to leave a plant or ornament in the tank for them to hide in so that you know where they are. It's kinda scary wondering whether you caught a khuli loach with that scoop of gravel. Dip the net in and scoop out a load of gravel. Dump it in the bucket and scoop out another load... once all the gravel is gone you can take out the gravel container and bring in your sand container.
Step 4 adding the sand
At this point you should turn off all impeller driven filters!!! VERY IMPORTANT STEP. Get a small cup...around coffee cup size. Make sure it's clean...(this includes soap, detergent, etc.) Scoop out a load of sand and put it in the tank with the top up. take the cup to the bottom and fairly gently pour it onto the glass. At this point you will realize whether you rinsed well enough or not. That's about it really...
step 5 benefits of blending sand and gravel
If you got bored of gravel and acctually went through the process of change to sand then chances are that you will get bored of sand too. So what to do...this is the great thing about blending sand. If you want a straight sand substrate then you can take your finger and push any gravel that is exposed down into the sand. Once you get bored of straight sand then run your net through the substrate and then shake it near the bottom. The sand will sift out. Then pour the gravel into the corner if you want a gravel patch or sprinkle it across the top if you want a scattered effect. If you want more gravel just get more out of the sand. Then once you get bored with that then you can just run your hand through the sand and mix it all up again and then push any exposed stones down into the sand again.
Step 6 caring for sand
sand is a little different from gravel in the maintenance area. Unlike gravel it will let you know when it needs to be cleaned. The particles are so small that food and poop can't fit through the grains. This means that it will show dirt. this stuff just sinks down into gravel. So how do you clean sand...well you take your gravel vaccuum and hold it about 1/2-1 inch above the sand, depending on the strength of the syphon. this will suck up all the muck without getting much sand. You'll lose a bit but not too much.
If you have a sand bed deeper than say 1/2-1 inch then you will have to stir your substrate somehow because there is no oxygen deep in the sand, therefore anaerobic bacteria colonize this area and produce poisonous gases (smells like rotten eggs) the bacteria will also turn your sand black... stirring the sand will prevent these bacteria from colonizing and it can be done several ways. I run my hands through the sand at water changes. I also keep Malaysian trumpet snails which love to burrow in the sand. The other way I stir my sand is with bottom dwellers. Cories, khulis, some puffers, lots of other fish love digging around in sand and will happilly stir it for you.
Here are some pictures of my girlfriends tank before and after the change. Don't mind the water spots I didn't notice them until after I took the pictures. Oh and the water is a little cloudy from the muck under the gravel...(i didn't do the gravel vaccuming i recommended earlier) I'll take some more pics in a couple days and see what it looks like with clear water. And please ignore the plants...I'm gonna increase the lighting in her tank because I can't talk her out of live plants and she can't keep them alive. I think her problem is the lighting.
I'm glad I have sand now, now I know I'm getting all of it, and now I Know my fish are eat ing all their food (they lost a lot of bloodworms before to nooks in the gravel).
It's quite heavy, so they simply can't root around in it. If you have access to sand-blasting-sand, I'd recommend something finer than 16 grit. 16 grit is what I have in my tank, and the stuff produces no dust whatsoever... but while it looks quite nice, I wish my cories could enjoy rooting it for food.
