Q on sand

[Alien Anna]

Laternal Line,
I have gravel in my tanks and I've very interested in what you are saying about sand. I've also considered peat, as I have an "Amazon" type tank with black water and bogwood.

Can I do the replacement gradually, ie. scraping away a bit of the gravel and putting in some sand or peat, until I've got a mixture of sand and gravel? Is there any advantage to doing so?

For my "Amazon" tank, should I replace gravel with peat, with sand, with a mixture of sand and peat or a mixture with gravel? The problem with peat is that it tends to get sucked up with my gravel cleaner. The problem with gravel is that it isn't a good substrate for my plants and it is infested with snails. At least snails show up more against a peat background!

For my other tank, which has mollies, guppies and soon SAEs, would sand or gravel be best?

I'm interested to hear your opinions as it's quite a radical change from the rather traditional way I have been doing things.

 

[Lateral Line]

Hi Alien Anna,

I just types in a long rambling response, but as usual, the forum won't let me post it! I'll put it on the net and post a link when I've done it!!!

 

[Lateral Line]

Done, text here.

 

[Alien Anna]

Lateral Line,
I've taken the liberty of posting your "long rambling post" as I believe you intended it for public consumption anyway:

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For Alien Anna,
When setting up a sand based tank, I have always done it from empty. Laterite on the bottom, sand over. However, let's think out loud, (well, the keys are making a noise!).

I have read enough of your posts to feel confident you would not be proposing this if you were using ugf's. You'll also have noted presumably, that I use a coarser sand then building sand for example, which packs down to hard - been there, done it, dug it out! Also be aware that some sand has some calcite/dolomite grains in it, (Calcium and Magnesium Carbonates) - you'll want to avoid that of course - clean silicate sand.

>>> do the replacement gradually,

I can't see any real reason why not, but can foresee logistical problems. If you scrape say 30cm from one end and replace it with sand, then where they meet they will mix. The next 30cm would need to start about 25 cm from the end, i.e. an overlap. This may not be a problem as you also say...

>>> until I've got a mixture of sand and gravel

... a mixture of sand and gravel is a kind of half way house. I believe your plants will be happier in a mixture than in gravel. The vast majority of plants are simply not designed to have large quantities of water circulating around their roots. Look at the eco-system where they are found.

>>> For my "Amazon" tank, should I replace gravel

My opinion, yes. I have used "peat plates" under swimming pool filter sand. Have the benfit of the peat, the appearance and easier maintenance of the sand. That said, the last couple of tanks I did, I dumped the peat. Peat does tend to be somewhat buoyant, and quickly stirs up when cleaning. I would think trying to set up a peat substrate in an established tank would be more problematic than with simply sand. Of course it goes without saying that no matter how hard you clean your sand or whatever, you'll get a load of particulates in the water.

With the livebearers, they rarely are interested in the substrate, so unless you have other reasons for changing, I would leave well alone.

This is simply rambling. I can't answer from experience because I've never done it that way. Having read this, give it some thought. If you want someone to bounce ideas off though, I'm here.

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> you intended it for public consumption anyway.

Yes, and thanks. I have no idea why the board throws a wobbly when I try to post more than 5-6 lines, but it reliably does so. The admin here doesn't know why either. I have raised the issue with the authors of the board software.