My First Tank

[onebto]

The playsand from Argos would be fine but wash it well before you use it
I would also advise you to get a good plant substrate for under the sand if you want real plants

Ah I missed a step out there so you put something else under the sand a plant substrate okay thanks guess my LFS can help me with that one any recommendations on how deep it should be ?


Some advise how the heck do you clean sand ?

 

[fish.com1]

The playsand from Argos would be fine but wash it well before you use it
I would also advise you to get a good plant substrate for under the sand if you want real plants

Ah I missed a step out there so you put something else under the sand a plant substrate okay thanks guess my LFS can help me with that one any recommendations on how deep it should be ?


Some advise how the heck do you clean sand ?

A method i heard is to half fill a bucket with sand get a hosepipe and run the water into the bucket and wait until the water overflowing is clear.Stir the sand around while you are washing it.

Someone may have a better way though.

 

[onebto]

The playsand from Argos would be fine but wash it well before you use it
I would also advise you to get a good plant substrate for under the sand if you want real plants

Ah I missed a step out there so you put something else under the sand a plant substrate okay thanks guess my LFS can help me with that one any recommendations on how deep it should be ?


Some advise how the heck do you clean sand ?

A method i heard is to half fill a bucket with sand get a hosepipe and run the water into the bucket and wait until the water overflowing is clear.Stir the sand around while you are washing it.

Someone may have a better way though.

Thanks for that sounds like a sensible way of doing things

 

[onebto]

Another Question ?

Okay I have decided to go with sand and get rid of the blue green gravel but now that I want sand with living plants I understand I have to have a substrate under the sand ?

I read on ........ Co2 ? what the hell is going on ? I want a tropical fish tank not the next NASA exploratrey space station

I have spent over £600 so far and I have not got one god dam fish in the bloody tank

May be artificial plants are the way to go ?

can anyone help me please a little despondent at the moment

I am trying to read up on setting up tanks , fishless cycling I am trying to work out what fish go with which other fish , what to feed them and what not to treating water , plants , substrates and now bloody Co2 kits .

Is it possible to get a tropical aquarium up and running with fish in it with in a year of starting ? and without a poxy degree in half a dozen subjects ? for someone starting from scratch ? and a budget slightly smaller than a small country ?


HELP !

 

[fifefish]

nice tank
i have a fully furnished tank with fish in it and it hardly took 2 months

so you should have no problem starting to put fish in it soon

 

[waterdrop]

The playsand from Argos would be fine but wash it well before you use it
I would also advise you to get a good plant substrate for under the sand if you want real plants

Ah I missed a step out there so you put something else under the sand a plant substrate okay thanks guess my LFS can help me with that one any recommendations on how deep it should be ?


Some advise how the heck do you clean sand ?

A method i heard is to half fill a bucket with sand get a hosepipe and run the water into the bucket and wait until the water overflowing is clear.Stir the sand around while you are washing it.

Someone may have a better way though.

This is right, this is what's most often recommended. Put the sand (may take more than one go) in a large bucket outside, so there's a lot of water room above it. Stick the garden hose down in the sand so it churns it up but is not going so hard that the sand is washed up out the top, instead only the dusty cloudy water should wash over the rim into the yard/patio. Just go back inside and leave it a while and periodically check it, stirring up the sand some with the hose. Eventually it will run mostly clear (it may never be perfect, but don't sweat it!) and you just quit and put it in your tank.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[waterdrop]

Another Question ?

Okay I have decided to go with sand and get rid of the blue green gravel but now that I want sand with living plants I understand I have to have a substrate under the sand ?

I read on ........ Co2 ? what the hell is going on ? I want a tropical fish tank not the next NASA exploratrey space station

I have spent over £600 so far and I have not got one god dam fish in the bloody tank

May be artificial plants are the way to go ?

can anyone help me please a little despondent at the moment

I am trying to read up on setting up tanks , fishless cycling I am trying to work out what fish go with which other fish , what to feed them and what not to treating water , plants , substrates and now bloody Co2 kits .

Is it possible to get a tropical aquarium up and running with fish in it with in a year of starting ? and without a poxy degree in half a dozen subjects ? for someone starting from scratch ? and a budget slightly smaller than a small country ?


HELP !

Calm down there onebto!

Its not going to be as bad as it sounds.

I recommend you suspend worrying about plants until much later after you've got your fish established, plants are a harder topic than fish.

You are exactly right that its a steep learning curve. The way to cut it down is to do just what you're doing... focus first on fishless cycling and get that right above all. Then, later in your fishless cycle, work on your fish stocking plans, interacting with the members a lot to get that worked out, so you'll have a good plan for which fish to add first, second and later. Then finally, on down the road, come back to the plant topic and don't worry if you have to throw out some plants that died, you can get that part better later.

You don't really need anything but sand. If you really want to put a plant-friendly substrate below that then you could take a look at EcoComplete, Seachem Flourite or Laterite, all of which are supposed to be a bit of a help, but be aware that eventually you will get mixing, so its not going to be pure nice-looking sand forever, but you may have better looking plants as a result.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[onebto]

Thanks so much for the advise and reassurance Waterdrop well sand ordered under sand substrate orderd screw Co2 for now maybe one day but not for me write now If the the under substrate takes to long to arrive I may not use it I do not know the mixing sounds a little worrying we will have to see.

Now that I have calmed down and am as mellow as, well as I used to be as a young teenager with a large hand rolled cigarette hanging out my mouth DOOOOOOODE

I have a sensible question for advise in the future when the sand and substrate arrives

1. I have read and been told that some people have mildly berried air stones that bubble up through gravel I guess you cannot do that with sand unless you make a pool of gravel in the sand.

2. If you are going to berry an air stone then berry it above the under substrate as not to blow any lower substrate into the the sand /gravel on the top level ?

3. Oh and if I do put a lower substrate under the sand I read some places that you can get like a plastic netting to help slow down mixing of substrates whats the whole score on this and if recommended can anyone give me a link to the stuff they recomend please

I need to get an idea so I can lay my air lines as I put my substrate or substrates in and just be a little comfortable with getting it sort of Wright

 

[OldMan47]

If you want an air stone buried in the sand or gravel it can be done quite easily. Lay the bottom layer of substrate in place and lay the airstone on top. Then add the top layer of substrate. Unless you have a very fine sand, it should stay in place with a reasonable bubbling rate on the air stone. If you intend to have a vigorous bubbling rate, the sand will uncover the stone but it might still look OK.
The plastic divider between substrate levels might work in a tank that is not planted but you need to consider how you will plant through it to take advantage of the fertile lower level. The other half of the equation is to think about how you will remove lant roots from the mesh when you decide to relocate plants. Even in an outdoors garden, the "weed barrier fabric" that is used to suppress weeds around your flowers make it almost impossible to move plants around without redoing the whole garden.

 

[onebto]

Nice one Oldman47 good points I will bare that in mind and remove all thought of plastic mesh between the 2 substrates

Thanks again