Getting My New Tank Today Wondering About A Sand Bed

[shelaghfishface]

hia
i have gravel in all my other tanks,and was wondering if the sand would be harder to maintain,as i just about have time for the things that i already do!
i have looked at argos play sand, as i heard doresy recomend it before... what do i need to do and how do i do it??

the tank is a four foot, and will be housing my clown loaches and plec, cant remember the exact size, i pick it up later,so ill add then,i have reserved 6 bags, enough? too much??
will i still be able to do a gravel vac in the same way? and have the plants in there with just sand?
it wont be a hardship NOT to have sand, so opinions either way is fine, many thankyou`s

shelagh xxx

ps, sorry if this is a question thats been asked a lot of times, but i dont have to search as im running late, and i can come back here and get the info all in one go

 

[shroob]

6 bags of sand sounds excessive, though you don't state the size of the bags. I got a 25kg bag of sand (try carrying that through town) and its done 2 90 gallon tanks.

You can't vacume sand the same way as gravel, as the sand will just go shooting up the tube for sand, I think its best to remove the larger intake that comes with most gravel vacs, and just hold the tube about 1" or so over the top so that all the debris gets stucked up, takes some time to work out what distance from the sand is right but you shouldn't loose massive amounts.
I've got plants in with playsand and they seem to be doing OK.

There is a debate about play sand compacting and causing gas pockets, which could be toxic to fish. People say to prevent this stire the sand when you do a water change. I don't know how valid this theory is but I like to stir my sand just to err on the side of caution, it doesnt take much time at all, for the tanks where I can reach the bottom just a quick run through with my fingers, and I use a plastic rod for those I can't reach.

 

[Scotty001]

hia
i have gravel in all my other tanks,and was wondering if the sand would be harder to maintain,as i just about have time for the things that i already do!
i have looked at argos play sand, as i heard doresy recomend it before... what do i need to do and how do i do it??

the tank is a four foot, and will be housing my clown loaches and plec, cant remember the exact size, i pick it up later,so ill add then,i have reserved 6 bags, enough? too much??
will i still be able to do a gravel vac in the same way? and have the plants in there with just sand?
it wont be a hardship NOT to have sand, so opinions either way is fine, many thankyou`s

shelagh xxx

ps, sorry if this is a question thats been asked a lot of times, but i dont have to search as im running late, and i can come back here and get the info all in one go

WAY TOO MUCH !!! thats 90 KG of sand !!!!! lol 2 / 3 bags should be more than enough, i use argos play sand in all of my tanks ( 90cm length x 40 cm Width)

Maintainance is simple but you will find yourself doing it a little more often as the poop settles on the sand and you can see it omre, all you need is a hose, hold it aprox 2 cm from the sand and it will suck up the poop but not that sand that simple and you can see you have done a good job and not missed any little nasties.

I have nothing under my sand in my tank and all my plants thrive, i having to cut them don a little every two weeks, and the roots have dug in well with the sand !!!!!!

Sand is wel wel worht it make the tank so much better, i have just added another pst to a thread that goosej13 has made about how i convertd my tanks to sand, have a peek here (just my little way of doing it)
HERE

remeber to give the sand a good was till there is hardly any yellow scum comming to the surfce of the ater when washing the sand !!

Hope this helps

EDIT ive never had a problem with sand compacting as shroob mentioned and cant say ive ever stirred the sand, one of the tanks has had the same sand in close to 1 hr now.

 

[shelaghfishface]

that all sounds great, thanks ever so much, i will change my order now to 3 bags lol
and have just had a quick read of the other thread scotty, looks fab,ill read it again later.......thanx for the advice of the vac i probably would have tried to do as i do with the gravel!!
ill post again leter, as no doubt ill have probs
shelagh xxx

 

[shelaghfishface]

just got it home, its 14 x 15 x 18 -( 10mm glass) bigger than i thought! so im ever so happy as my clown loaches will love it
paid a bit too much for it ( £100) but i knocked him down from £145, and it needs a bit of tarting up, but thats not a problem, i was looking at a tank the same size on ebay, from a local guy - just the glass tank thats it.he was selling for £195... so maybe i gor a good deal, but who cares anyway im happy

will have to go and get the snad tommorow, as im a bit pushed for time now, thanks everyone for the advice

 

[Davegixer]

Hi,
I use sand in my 3' tank. I'm by no means an expert (new to the hobby last year) and have got my head around how best to deal with it.

I also used sand from Argos, very nice colour! When I first put it on it was really cloudy, even after many washes. Wasn't too much of a drama as I fishless cycled anyway which took weeks. I did use an additive that clumped all the cloud together though and it was gone in a day.

As for cleaning, I still use a syphone and it 'swirls' the top layer and pulls all the muck off. I also stir the sand regularly; but my malaysian trumpets should be here today to do that job for me!

Alagae forming on the sand has been an issue, but my moss balls and more plants + snails should help with that.

Good luck, stick at it as it is much more pleasing to the eye and better for the fish than gravel.

Dave

 

[MermaidMel]

just got it home, its 14 x 15 x 18 -( 10mm glass) bigger than i thought! so im ever so happy as my clown loaches will love it
paid a bit too much for it ( £100) but i knocked him down from £145, and it needs a bit of tarting up, but thats not a problem, i was looking at a tank the same size on ebay, from a local guy - just the glass tank thats it.he was selling for £195... so maybe i gor a good deal, but who cares anyway im happy

will have to go and get the snad tommorow, as im a bit pushed for time now, thanks everyone for the advice

How is 18" = 4ft?

Anyway when i put Argos playsand in my 4ft tank 120cm long I used under 2 bags, wash it well in a washing up bowl over and over and over again then gently pour it in, when you fill it up put a plate in the tank and direct the water over the plate so you don't stir up the sand

 

[Madam Macaw]

I have gravel in my 10 gallon and part of my 55 gallon. My 20 gallon and the majority of the 55 gallon is all sand. I prefer sand. The sand is easier to clean, IMHO, just swirl the siphon tube above any debris and it sucks it right up. My 10 gallon is being used for a fry tank, so I will just keep the gravel in there for now. Post some pics after you set everything up.

 

[goosej13]

I would highly reccomend not using play sand as it is messy... silica sand or some other sands your LFS has will work SOOOO much easier... i got my bag of sand from a pool supply store

 

[shelaghfishface]

just got it home, its 14 x 15 x 18 -( 10mm glass) bigger than i thought! so im ever so happy as my clown loaches will love it
paid a bit too much for it ( £100) but i knocked him down from £145, and it needs a bit of tarting up, but thats not a problem, i was looking at a tank the same size on ebay, from a local guy - just the glass tank thats it.he was selling for £195... so maybe i gor a good deal, but who cares anyway im happy

will have to go and get the snad tommorow, as im a bit pushed for time now, thanks everyone for the advice

How is 18" = 4ft?

Anyway when i put Argos playsand in my 4ft tank 120cm long I used under 2 bags, wash it well in a washing up bowl over and over and over again then gently pour it in, when you fill it up put a plate in the tank and direct the water over the plate so you don't stir up the sand

pmsl. i must be more stupid than i look, its actually 48 wide x 18 high and 15 deep, soory long day

 

[geo7x]

I would highly reccomend not using play sand as it is messy... silica sand or some other sands your LFS has will work SOOOO much easier... i got my bag of sand from a pool supply store

Since when? Argos playsand is the best it requires hardly any washing. Don't buy the stuff from your lfs they charge way too much for it as it has the word "aquarium" on it.

It depends how thick you want the sand shelagh but if the bags are the same size that I got from Argos then 1 bag would do a 4ft fine by my standards.

 

[Scotty001]

I would highly reccomend not using play sand as it is messy... silica sand or some other sands your LFS has will work SOOOO much easier... i got my bag of sand from a pool supply store

Argos Play sand is silica sand, and at £2.49 for 15KG not many would mind spending and extra 20 mins washing it out, i know i didnt when my LFS were charging close to £2 per KG