I Have Switched To Sand

[rebrn]

Ok So I have made the switch to sand in my larger tank, I am about to tackle the little tank. I did rinse the sand very well (play sand), rinsed untill clear. However, I have a couple of questions now that the sand is in the tank. First, I am assuming that the cloudy water I have (I did not have before) is due to the sand being stired up when I refilled the tank. It is already starting to clear a little bit, but how long does it take, on average, before it completely clears? Second, I have an air bubbler (airstone wall) at the back of the tank I have it currently under the sand, is this a mistake? If it is under the sand will that cause constant cloudiness of the tank as the air is coming up through the sand? I hope that made sense

Thanks

 

[Harlequins]

IMO its best to raise bubbler above the sand otherwise it will stir the sand up

The sand may well block up the holes in the bubbler wall also.

 

[rebrn]

That is what I was thinking too, I moved it above sand level and actually turned it off completely untill the sand storm in the tank stops . But already soooo much clearer. I just finished with the smaller tank, again I used play sand but I mixed in a little of the pure quartz red reptile sand (not the reptile sand that is calcium based or has added vitamins just the plain quartz stuff). The reptile sand is quite a bit more expensive, about $8.00 for 5 lbs, big price difference from the play sand, but the little bit that I have, about 2 parts play sand to 1 part reptile sand, gave me this awesome pinky peach coral colour. I'll post pics once the water is cleared. Luckily I don't have fish yet so I don't have to worry about the cloud of dust upsetting them . But already even with cloudy water it looks so much better than the gravel. A lot of work emptying the tank, washing the sand etc, but I am glad I did it.