How Much Substrate In Kg?

[AshleyT]

i currently have sand in my tank an would like to swap over to fine black gravel an would like to know how much i would need for a 110/120 liter tank? 

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Well it will depend on the size of your tank (inches or cm) how deep you want it and how big the bags of gravel you can get are.

 

[AshleyT]

its 80cm long (i think) an i would like it to be about a inch an half deep maybe 2 an the largest of what i want what iv seen is 8 kg but not sure if thats enough

 

[snazy]

What's the width of the tank?

 

[AshleyT]

am not quite sure as im not at home but on a guess i would say around maybe 40/50cm 

 

[snazy]

To calculate how much you need, multiply the lenght of the tank by the witdth by the desired height of the substrate and devide by 1000
 
For example for an 80cm long and 40cm wide tank to achieve 2inch(5cm) substrate you'd need:
 
80x40x5= 16000/1000=16kg
 
And for 50 cm width
 
80x50x5=20kg
 
If you'd like an inch and a half, then depending on the relevant width where 1.5 inch is 3.81cm
 
80x40x3.81=12.2kg
 
80x50x3.81=15.2kg

 

[AshleyT]

ok thanks a lot for that info

 

[snazy]

No problem.

 

[misterpro]

That calculation is off. You calculated the amount of liters sand he needs. Dry sand generally weighs 1.6 to 1.8 kg per liter. The specific weight depends on granule size, sort of rock etc... And there is much lighter or heavier stuff out there. Finer grain is always heavier (less place for airpockets)

Also many brands of aquarium sand list both liters & kgs on the bag. (In which case the weight calculation can be ignored)

What sort of sand are you going for? I am/was assuming you're going for something that doesn't list liters since you asked for kg?

 

[AshleyT]

sorry for the late reply didnt see it, yeah its in kg an im wanting a fine black gravel

 

[snazy]

The specific weight depends on granule size, sort of rock etc... And there is much lighter or heavier stuff out there.

 
Yes, there is heavier stuff, but the volume of it is bigger as well, hence you get less kg from the "heavier" stuff but it fills more space in the tank at the same time. Generally, in most cases, it can be calculated the way I suggested plus/minus some.