Just Changed To Sand But One Thing

[D4N]

i have changed one of my tanks to sand from gravel an i love it!! im doin my bigger tank 2moro

there is just one thing how thick do u need it i have done it 1" but it isnta planted tank
my bigger tank has more plants in it will 1" be anuf to for plants?? also i hear that if u put to much sand in that can harm your fish is that true and how much is it?

sorry for been a pain again! im just new to sand

 

[geo7x]

1" in an unplanted tank is fine. The general rule is not much more than 2" of sand, much more than that and you will get a buildup of anaerobic air pockets which are harmful to fish. But you shouldnt have this problem, maybe rake the sand every so often just to make sure.

 

[jayjay]

This is one thing that has never been proved to me, the pockets actually killing fish, anyone have a link or personal experience? As long as the stir the sand when you water change you will be fine.

 

[SamUK]

well i jus had a bit of a move around in my big tank and there was a corner where the sand was probably about 3" deep.

when i flattenened that out loads of air bubbles came up and they stunk!!!

tanks only been running a lil over 2 months aswell (i think).

so i can imagine the gas can be pretty bad.

 

[geo7x]

well, me and jayjay have just been having a debate about this on MSN (lol) and he was saying that surely these bubbles would just rush to the surface and not harm the fish? its a good point i suppose, however im sure there could be tiny tiny "toxic bubbles" which could be sucked up by a passing corie or something. kind of hijacking this thread now.

 

[samyboy]

i suppose it depends on the fish you keep mines about 1.5inch and ive got corys so the sand is constantly being turned

moving to sand was the best thing i did and cheaper than gravel

 

[Griz]

This is one thing that has never been proved to me, the pockets actually killing fish, anyone have a link or personal experience? As long as the stir the sand when you water change you will be fine.

I agree, 1" should be fine.

I'm skeptical about the "poison gas" theory too. It comes up every so often and I've asked the same question. So far I have yet to run into anyone who has had personal experience with this phenomenon. A pocket of gas of any size would rise to the surface. I don't see how enough gas could build up in the tank and be absorbed into the water column that it would be harmful to fish. I have a freind who has a fair sized pond, perhaps 50 feet across. There is a huge amount of gas that bubbles up from the bottom; any distubance on the bottom and the water boils with rising gases. His pond is teeming with healthy fish. I've also run into these sorts of situations many times in my travels by canoe in the North. Another fish-keeping myth? I think yes.

 

[geo7x]

yeah sorry i forgot to mention if you have cories or kuhlis or MTS', this helps the situation even furhter as these either disturb the sand or bury into it, doing a similar job as raking would.

 

[D4N]

so will 1" be ok for a planted tank or shall i go to 1.5"?

 

[Ginge]

I dont think a fish would have to breath it in becasue the "toxic gasses" would diffuse into the water.

 

[scubadoo]

I'm about to set up my first tank this weekend and am going to use sand.

I found this article by nmonks really informative and pretty comprehensive on all issues relating to sand (including anaerobic reactions etc.)

Sand as Substrate

not sure if the link will work - if not just do a search for topic "sand as substrate"

hope it helps

scuba

 

[D4N]

I'm about to set up my first tank this weekend and am going to use sand.

I found this article by nmonks really informative and pretty comprehensive on all issues relating to sand (including anaerobic reactions etc.)

Sand as Substrate

not sure if the link will work - if not just do a search for topic "sand as substrate"

hope it helps

scuba

ye that helped ty

 

[Fishy412]

ok heres something i noticed. since switching to sand there has been a lot more brown algae on the glass. what is this a sign of? could it just be from the heat?

 

[CRogers]

i have literally just changed my 80litre tank from gravel to sand about an hour ago, an i think it looks fantastic, just waiting for the water to clear now, but its gettin there. Iv decided to keep it simple, just sand, and a couple of pieces of bogwood with java fern on them.

Ced

 

[Bignose]

I posted this a while back:

The main concern people have about sand would be anaerobic bacteria build-up. Anaerobic meaning without air, though more accurately, without oxygen. If you didn't know, the ammonia and nitrite reducing bacteria require oxygen to work (to convert ammonia to nitrite and to convert nitrite to nitrate).

Anywho, under anaerobic conditions, bacteria start to get their energy from other sources, like reducing sulfur instead of oxygen. And a by-product of that is hydrogen sulfide, yes, one of the deadliest compounds in nature.

But, there is relief. In water, as soon as hydrogen sulfide comes into contact with any oxygen, it will become harmless. So, even if there is a pocket, and even if you accidentally stir it up, it will become harmless as soon as it hits your well-oxygenated water. And you know your water is well-oxygenated since your fish are living in it, and they need oxygen. This is the stinky smell you got, sulfurs, but you most likely smelled sulfur oxides, not hydrogen sulfide. Like I said, hydrogen sulfide decomposes very quickly in the presence of oxygen while in aqueous solution.

So, there really isn't anything down there to worry about, so my recommendation is to not stir it at all. Just vacuum the top of the sand to get the uneaten food off the top. If uneaten food on the top is a constant problem, you probably should be feeding less, maybe a lot less.

p.s. Another source of energy anaerobic bacteria may use is actually to convert nitrates to nitrogen gas. This is what living rock and living sand does for some marine tank setups. There is no way that I am aware of that "pockets of ammonia" could form the substrate. If there is oxygen present, ammonia will be converted to nitrate, if there isn't oxygen present is will be reduced to nitrogen gas. As far as I know, ammonia would be consumed by the different bacteria species in either case.