Replaced My Gravel With Sand...finally!

[robyngunston]

Yippee...finally replaced my gravel with sand and all the rinsing was so worth it!

 

[smithrc]

thats great... where are the pics ??

 

[pauly]

How do you clean out the sand?

 

[robyngunston]

How do you clean out the sand?

I put the sand in a bucket (one of the buckets you use for water changing) filled about a third of the bucket with sand and I just kept filling the bucket with warm water, swishing the water around and tipping in out until the water looked alot clearer. I had to do it quite a few times - probably about 6 to 10 times but they say the more you do it the quicker it will settle when you put it in your tank...which was definitely true! Once I thought it was clean enough I tipped all the water out and used a small bowl to scoop it up out of the bucket and put it into the tank. It was like building sand castles I did this whole procedure four times this seemed to be enough for my 15 Gallon tank Hope that helps!

thats great... where are the pics ??

Just about to start cycling the tank so no pics yet, hopefully soon

 

[nmonks]

Glad you've done this. Anyone who thinks they've kept catfish (especially Corydoras) but hasn't kept them in a tank with sand, well, they haven't really lived. To see catfish wallowing in the sand or spewing it out of their gills is really fun to see.

Be sure and read the primer on sand in the pinned section. There are issues to consider if you want to use sand safely. In a tank with catfish, assuming you don't have plants, then a depth of a few cm of sand will be perfectly safe, and is perhaps the ideal scenario.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[robyngunston]

Glad you've done this. Anyone who thinks they've kept catfish (especially Corydoras) but hasn't kept them in a tank with sand, well, they haven't really lived. To see catfish wallowing in the sand or spewing it out of their gills is really fun to see.

Be sure and read the primer on sand in the pinned section. There are issues to consider if you want to use sand safely. In a tank with catfish, assuming you don't have plants, then a depth of a few cm of sand will be perfectly safe, and is perhaps the ideal scenario.

Cheers,

Neale

I have put down an inch I was told that would be okay? Do you think I have put in too much?

 

[nmonks]

In a tank without plants, an inch is perfect. Your cories will easily keep it clean.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[EasterIslandMan]

Did you just buy it (the sand) from you lfs? (I have had a hard time trying to find sand).

 

[robyngunston]

Did you just buy it (the sand) from you lfs? (I have had a hard time trying to find sand).

I bought my sand from Homebase...I have heard you can get play sand from Argos as well.

Did you just buy it (the sand) from you lfs? (I have had a hard time trying to find sand).

You can buy sand from your lfs as well but it is cheaper to buy it from one of the places above. You have to rinse it quite well though

 

[caino]

I got my sand from homebase, im not sure on the size of the pack it didnt say, but it easily coverd the base of my 120 litre long with a big sand bank at one side its not expesive either, if you find some at a lfs its often a lot more expensive!