Changing Substrate

[Hoppo]

I was thinking of changing my substrate to sand from tank gravel. I would like to know what are the DO's and DONTS of doing this.

How do I prepare my sand and I heard play sand from a Home Depot or Lowes is ok right? How much do I need?
Are there colored sands available?
What harm can I cause to my tank by doing a change.
Will the type of fish(signature)I already have suffer or benefit? I know the Cories will like it.

All info is greatly helpful to me.

Thanks

 

[Tizer]

wash it, yes, couple of inches, coloured sands look kak, no harm, turn off filter and remove fish for 20 mins while you do it, no change.

 

[Hoppo]

kak?? sorry

I was thinking of black sand, or something else pretty solid, nothing to crazy. I wasn't planning on turning the bottom of my tank into a Sand art display. Where can I find the color sand?

Keep the help coming.

Thanks

 

[hanny93]

I recently changed from gravel to sand, and it was a nightmare.

Make sure you wash your sand in a bucket for about three hours ( i didnt wash mine and ive still got dusty bits floating round every now and again)
Then take everything but your gravel out and put your fish in a bucket with the heater, posssibly filter and plants.

Then scoop all your gravel out, no need to gravel vac aslong as youve taken 90% of the original water out. (Remember to keep your sponges wet in your filter if you havent put it in the bucket with your fish - or you'll have to recycle the tank.

Gravel vac the bottom of the tank or if it's light enough to lift, tip all the leftover debris thats in the bottom of the tank and believe me there will be a lot of it!

Then pour your washed sand in (the water should be clear when you wash it - no dust no particles no nothing) and arrange it roughly how you want it, remember, its going to get all messed up anyway when you put your water in.

Then slowly fill your tank up with fresh dechlorinated water and make sure it is at the right temperature (same temp as the water the fish are in)

Stop when you get to about halfway full, sort out the sand again, add all your plants and decorations back in and put the heater back in the main tank.
then carry on filling and finally add the fish.


The only harm you can cause is if your temps arent right or if you let your sponges dry out. Make sure to put some filter floss in the filter to catch all the sand thats floating round and it will clear your water faster.

I used 2.5kg on my 16 gallon tank but it isnt as deep as I'd like and my cories need a bit more so i'd say about 3-4 kilograms.
There are coloured sands available, black is the most popular of coloured sands, but theyre really expensive, with Tahitian moon sand being £19 on ebay for one bag of about 4kg i'm guessing.
No fish will suffer with sand other than goldfish as they tend to ingest way too much of it when they're eating.

Sorry if I sounded patronising, I just wish I'd have had some help when I was changing to sand!
Hope I helped

 

[Tizer]

kak = yuck

black sand looks alright mind

 

[Miles_hot]

what are the benefits of sand over gravel? There seems to be a consistent theme of people moving from gravel to sand and I was wondering why (and by extension should I start at sand when the tank is delivered)?

Many thanks

Miles

 

[hanny93]

I'd say always use sand. It looks better and more natural, its easier to maintain and and its a better substrate for a lot of fish than gravel.

 

[moochy13]

hoppo - when you have removed most of your gravel, can you take a picture of whats left in the tank ? and prepare your sense of smell to be devastated

that should be enough to put people off using gravel it is absolutely foul, however well you thnk you're cleaning your gravel. with a sand base no fish poo or food can rot through the substrate and collect underneath, as it all just sits on top of the sand. simply hoover it off the surface, dont suck up the sand. my fish love to dig in my sand, my cories sift through it, i find it easier to plant in, and you can create some really nice shapes in the tank bottom with sand. pale sand also helps to brighten the tank up a bit.

 

[chrisodapz]

hoppo - when you have removed most of your gravel, can you take a picture of whats left in the tank ? and prepare your sense of smell to be devastated

that should be enough to put people off using gravel it is absolutely foul, however well you thnk you're cleaning your gravel. with a sand base no fish poo or food can rot through the substrate and collect underneath, as it all just sits on top of the sand. simply hoover it off the surface, dont suck up the sand. my fish love to dig in my sand, my cories sift through it, i find it easier to plant in, and you can create some really nice shapes in the tank bottom with sand. pale sand also helps to brighten the tank up a bit.

I wish i had checked on this forum before i put gravel in the tank

 

[Gilli]

Just somethig you might like to consider to make it easier on you and the fish. Buy a big plastic tub from a DIY store (cheap as chips and useful) Fill it with your tank water and run your filter and heater in it with all your fish. This way you can take your time over changing the substrate and do it over a few days letting the sand settle before putting everything back.

 

[karin]

I just changed from black "sand" which ended up being chunky and having sharp edges to a nice natural sand. Took me 2 hours in a 30 gallon. I've done this before on other tanks as well.

TIP 1 By far, the hardest part is, if you buy play sand, washing it. Be prepared to wash it 47 times. Or some number like that. That is the best tip, wash wash wash.

I also will not do a lot of cleaning in the tank on the day of the switch. Keep in mind that the tank glass and gravel do harbor some of your biological filter. Most is in the filter yes, but some is on the glass and gravel. So if I clean glass it is a week or two before. Then on the day, I take everything out including the fish, scoop the gravel, after removing 80% of the water and it is a gross stinky mess, add my sand.

TIP 2 Put a plate or matt over the sand while refilling tank with same temp water and Seachem prime. This reduces the tendency to get really cloudy water.

I fill to 80% put my plants in and fill to top and put light, filter, heater back on after 5 minutes of settling (don't want any sand particles in the filter impeller).

Then I do something else for 30 minutes or so until I can add fish back.

Rebel Tip #3, I live at a high mountain lake and twice now I've gotten sand at our beaches. It is so clean! I still rinse with the hottest water I can get, make sure there is no oil residue coming from the sand and use it. The last batch was pristine. I am confident this sand won't change my water parameters but I know I'm risking parasites and bacteria. Most people do not advise this however, but it is my experiment.

 

[Warehouse]

I just changed from gravel to sand. Luckily I am in the cycling stage and had no plants. However, I kept the water in the tank and washed the sand in smallish batches before placing carefully into the tank. Result was clear water from the start. If you want to see the thread it's in my signature below.

 

[Hoppo]

Wow, thanks guys for all the info. Thats basically what I was thinking but I wanted to get some 2nd/3rd opinions and I'm glad to have helped out some other members by asking this question.

So if I want some color sand, I should check on Ebay?

Thank again, this will probably be my weekend project.

 

[moochy13]

we should point out that millions of people round the world use gravel in their tanks with no problems. its not wrong or rubbish at doing its job,i just cant see any benefits it has over sand.

 

[Geoff-]

I must have been lucky, I bought washed play sand from the hardware store and it was still filthy when I rinsed it, did each bucket about 5-6 times and then put it in the tank. The water cleared after 24 hours.

I am also running biochem zorb as I had excessive driftood tannins about a month ago so that would have helped suck out some of the micro particles.