For Those Of You Thinking About Switching To Sand.

[Jallen]

one way of keeping the surface of sand clean, though it works just as well with gravel, is to add a, large, air stone or air curtain at the back of your tank. this causes a current that draws the gunk towards the back of the tank. and that's where it collects. you can syphon it up or simply stir the water, as i do, and let the filter clear it out. as for the question of compaction. the advice from the most experienced, no not me lol, is not to bother turning the sand over. apparently, this actually aids planting! I'll clear that comment up, its not bad to turn your sand, it just, seems, not be necessary.

not very good for those with planted tanks, as it will remove CO2 from water if your injecting it, just a heads up for those that dont know,

a shoal of 6+ corys will keep your sand in good shape

It will add CO2 if you are not injecting it however.

 

[Truck]

one way of keeping the surface of sand clean, though it works just as well with gravel, is to add a, large, air stone or air curtain at the back of your tank. this causes a current that draws the gunk towards the back of the tank. and that's where it collects. you can syphon it up or simply stir the water, as i do, and let the filter clear it out. as for the question of compaction. the advice from the most experienced, no not me lol, is not to bother turning the sand over. apparently, this actually aids planting! I'll clear that comment up, its not bad to turn your sand, it just, seems, not be necessary.

not very good for those with planted tanks, as it will remove CO2 from water if your injecting it, just a heads up for those that dont know,

a shoal of 6+ corys will keep your sand in good shape

It will add CO2 if you are not injecting it however.

an airstone wont add CO2 it will remove it.

air is made up of: about 0.03% CO2 so will be of no benefit at all as the bubbles dont have enough time to disolve into the water, same applies to oxygen and nitrogen and the remaining elements in the air mixture

 

[raptorrex]

one way of keeping the surface of sand clean, though it works just as well with gravel, is to add a, large, air stone or air curtain at the back of your tank. this causes a current that draws the gunk towards the back of the tank. and that's where it collects. you can syphon it up or simply stir the water, as i do, and let the filter clear it out. as for the question of compaction. the advice from the most experienced, no not me lol, is not to bother turning the sand over. apparently, this actually aids planting! I'll clear that comment up, its not bad to turn your sand, it just, seems, not be necessary.

not very good for those with planted tanks, as it will remove CO2 from water if your injecting it, just a heads up for those that dont know,

a shoal of 6+ corys will keep your sand in good shape

airstone add little O2 to any tank they are in! only the surface disruption, in reality, has any real transfer. and remember, plants use/need O2 when there is no light! but i, do, take your point.

 

[Truck]

i know that airstones add little oxygen to a tank, thats what i said

and plants need CO2 when there is light, to be able to photosynthesize, even in highlight tanks

 

[raptorrex]

i know that airstones add little oxygen to a tank, thats what i said

and plants need CO2 when there is light, to be able to photosynthesize, even in highlight tanks

I'm a little fuzzy on this. how can an airstone, that you yourself say adds little O2 to a tank, drive out CO2. is it the surface disruption that causes it to gas off, even though it is not replaced by O2? that's ignoring the fact that a plant uses CO2 to produce O2. does the O2 from the plants not drive out CO2 too?

 

[JustKia]

Water movement increases the rate at which the CO2 gases off. The greater surface area, which allows greater O2 exchange, also allows greater CO2 exchange.

On the original topic - the work involved in switching from gravel to sand was well worth it, looks great, no probs keeping it clean =)

 

[mic8310]

recommend you give toys'r'us a visit and grab some of their play sand, its £5 for 25 kg, a bit more expensive than argos.

but the bags in argos are £2.50 for 15kg. I used 2 bags for my Rio 180 from argos, im sure i wouldnt miss 5kg tbh so i wouldve paid £5 no matter which of the 2 shops i got it from

 

[aaronnorth]

i know that airstones add little oxygen to a tank, thats what i said

and plants need CO2 when there is light, to be able to photosynthesize, even in highlight tanks

I'm a little fuzzy on this. how can an airstone, that you yourself say adds little O2 to a tank, drive out CO2. is it the surface disruption that causes it to gas off, even though it is not replaced by O2? that's ignoring the fact that a plant uses CO2 to produce O2. does the O2 from the plants not drive out CO2 too?

It is possible to have a highly saturated O2 & CO2 tank at the same time.

When we inject CO2, we aim for around 30ppm, when the level in the water reaches this target, we now have a CO2 saturated tank.
At the same time plants are photosynthesising and producing O2, this almost dissolves instantly and we do not see it. But once the water becomes saturated with O2, we start to see oxygen bubbles form on the plants tips (also know as pearling), because no more O2 can dissolve in the water.

 

[Dave Spencer]

I'm a little fuzzy on this. how can an airstone, that you yourself say adds little O2 to a tank, drive out CO2. is it the surface disruption that causes it to gas off, even though it is not replaced by O2? that's ignoring the fact that a plant uses CO2 to produce O2. does the O2 from the plants not drive out CO2 too?

CO2 is not displaced by O2 in the water. It is possible to have high CO2 and O2 levels. CO2 moves in and out of its aqueous form in water much more readily than O2 (it is more soluble), so surface agitation causes a greater exchange of CO2 at the surface than it does O2. This agitation of the surface will see the CO2 gassing off in to the atmosphere.

Dave.

 

[OohFeeshy]

On the cleaning note- honestly, just suck up some of the sand. If you use a bucket (like the majority of people), it will sink to the bottom and you can just give it a quick rinse and put it back in. You don't even suck up that much.

 

[Keithoms]

I really dont see how some people have troubles keeping their sand clean. Mine NEVER has any crap on it, and if it does it is miniscule. My pretty overstocked and the 6 cories manage to do a fantastic job, as someone said, the sand ending up like virgin snow.

 

[Truck]

Cories/Loach's are an excellent mix for keeping your sand in top top condition

 

[wendywc]

To the OP, yes there's Toys R US in the US, but I hate play sand with a passion. Never heard of someone switching from sand to gravel? I did; that's how much I hate the stuff. I can't stand its color or consistency. I am going to try pool filter sand in my 55 gallon. But the fine, variegated gravel in the 30 gallon is staying!

 

[raptorrex]

I'm a little fuzzy on this. how can an airstone, that you yourself say adds little O2 to a tank, drive out CO2. is it the surface disruption that causes it to gas off, even though it is not replaced by O2? that's ignoring the fact that a plant uses CO2 to produce O2. does the O2 from the plants not drive out CO2 too?

CO2 is not displaced by O2 in the water. It is possible to have high CO2 and O2 levels. CO2 moves in and out of its aqueous form in water much more readily than O2 (it is more soluble), so surface agitation causes a greater exchange of CO2 at the surface than it does O2. This agitation of the surface will see the CO2 gassing off in to the atmosphere.

Dave.

Aha, so it is the surface agitation!! thanks Dave the physics of all this makes sense. unfortunately the chemistry, behind the physical reactions i observe, tend to be a mystery to me!(at the risk of diverting even further) does that not make, things like sumps and wet&dry filters, a bad idea on a planted tank?

To the OP, yes there's Toys R US in the US, but I hate play sand with a passion. Never heard of someone switching from sand to gravel? I did; that's how much I hate the stuff. I can't stand its color or consistency. I am going to try pool filter sand in my 55 gallon. But the fine, variegated gravel in the 30 gallon is staying!

I really like the idea of "pool filter" sand. but it is hard to get, and very expensive, well in the UK. but, Silver or Kiln dried sand is far less regular. despite its name, it comes in differing shades. its worth a look, but may be too sharp for some bottom dwellers.

 

[CrowntailUK]

Thanks for this thread, has really helped me, i have always wanted to switch over to sand but searching for the info always brought up 100's of different thoughts/ways/opinions etc so my mind was always overcome.

Due to this thread and a previous one I found via search by someone named 'wolf' which I have bookmarked I have decided to go for it in my 40 gallon and will be visiting toys'r'us tomorrow to collect the sand! Thanks again