Pro's And Con's I Need Some Advise

[MickeyMousePlaty216]

I have a fifty-five gallon tank that contains:

Medium size gravel
fake plants
lots of hornwort
7 platies
10 male guppies

The water is crystal clear and healthy.

I am going to be moving to florida in about a month or so
I have lots of baby platies in a ten gallon tank.

I was wondering if I put the fry in one bucket
and put my adult in another with filtered tank water
would they survive?

the trip down their is about 16-17 hours long
I live in ohio that why its so long.

When I move down there I want to put sand in the fifthy-five gallon
becuase I have such a terrible time trying to catch the fry and
its takes me hours to do it.

Also will sand hold my plants better? and had hard is it to clean?

please someone tell me the Pro's and the Con's of sand?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

If you put the fry/adults into buckets, with aeration and some filter media they will survive alright. You can buy battery operated air pumps, I normally keep one on hand just in case of power outages. Definitley will want a tight fitting lid for the ride too and cut a small part out for the air pump tubing.

Not too sure about sand, I know debris will not normally sink through and get stuck in it like gravel. It is much harder to siphon though because you end up picking a lot of it up I guess it must just take practice I believe it is also harder for plants to root in, though I am not too much of a plant guy myself. You could always do a gravel layer on the bottom and sand on top?

Good luck with the move.


DL

 

[dave_oddballs]

i dont think sand is harder to keep clean but its harder to keep it looking clean, if ya get what i meen. I prefer sand and fine gravel as opposed to your average pea shingle type gravel. The fish you have are relatively hardy so its possible they would all make it fine but i wouldnt be supprised if 1 or 2 get overly stressed and die. Its just a gamble really just make sure they have acce7s to air and dont let the containers get knocked around to much and they shud be ok!
David

 

[MickeyMousePlaty216]

thank you for your replys

I will look into getting the battery operated air pump

I think I might just get much smaller gravel but
if anybody got an other Por's and Con's about
sand please leave them here I would really apperciate that

 

[saltynay]

Sand pros/cons
Looks more natural
Can be mixed with gravel to make a river bottom effect
Comes in a variety of colours but less unnatural colours are available
Easy to plant in and with a substrate fertiliser it allows easy access to ferts by plant roots however in turn plants aren't as well anchored to the substrate
Easy to clean once you do it a few times you will pick up the knack, I take out approx 5grams of sand when I vac and remove 20L of water
Looks dirty much more rapidly
Some plants may float if placed in sand as there is not enough weight.

 

[MickeyMousePlaty216]

Sand pros/cons
Looks more natural
Can be mixed with gravel to make a river bottom effect
Comes in a variety of colours but less unnatural colours are available
Easy to plant in and with a substrate fertiliser it allows easy access to ferts by plant roots however in turn plants aren't as well anchored to the substrate
Easy to clean once you do it a few times you will pick up the knack, I take out approx 5grams of sand when I vac and remove 20L of water
Looks dirty much more rapidly
Some plants may float if placed in sand as there is not enough weight.

what does a river bottom tank look like? could you give me a picture of that?

 

[saltynay]

I haven't got any recent pics although I could take one if you desperately want. I call it a river bottom as its similar to what I envisage as a river bottom a mixture of gravel and sand as the gravel gradually migrates to the surface.

Old pic and not very good but I don't take pics of my substrate. (click to enlarge)

 

[MickeyMousePlaty216]

I haven't got any recent pics although I could take one if you desperately want. I call it a river bottom as its similar to what I envisage as a river bottom a mixture of gravel and sand as the gravel gradually migrates to the surface.

Old pic and not very good but I don't take pics of my substrate. (click to enlarge)

thank you and that is really cool I would have to take that
into consideration.

 

[saltynay]

I just saw this in the planted forum of Amunets tank this is what I would consider a river bottom effect:

 

[Amunet]

Some Pros of sand...
Looks great in pretty much any kind of setup whether if you want something a bit more natural or multicolored whatever heh.
Cheap cheap cheap.. you can get a big bag of playsand for $3.. maybe less.
Sand is great for bottom dwelling fish

Few Cons of sand....
It shows any kind of debris on the bottom. So a bit of a pain to keep that clean look.
Sand alone, isn't the best for plants. That can be solved by having an underlayer of a good plant substrate w/ the sand on top. The sand still won't allow fish poop to reach the roots though.