Sand And Filters?

[schooly20]

Alright so I'm planning on setting up a 29 gal tank with a pair of keyhole cichlids in it and a sand bottom. I have a great filter for it, a penguin 360 from marine land, I had it for a 65 before I got a canister filter for that one. But to the question, I heard today that having a sand substrate will ruin a filters impeller, is this really true? I know if the filter sucks up too much it could hurt it, but will just having the sand bottom be a problem? the other thing was I have read that with a sand bottom that you have to run your fingers through it every once and a while to make sure any kind of waste that gets down in it doesn't create and poison gas, so by agitating it every once and a while you'd get ride of it before it reached dangerous levels. Would that be the correct way to do that or is there a better way?? Any tips or advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!

 

[Scotty001]

Alright so I'm planning on setting up a 29 gal tank with a pair of keyhole cichlids in it and a sand bottom. I have a great filter for it, a penguin 360 from marine land, I had it for a 65 before I got a canister filter for that one. But to the question, I heard today that having a sand substrate will ruin a filters impeller, is this really true? I know if the filter sucks up too much it could hurt it, but will just having the sand bottom be a problem? the other thing was I have read that with a sand bottom that you have to run your fingers through it every once and a while to make sure any kind of waste that gets down in it doesn't create and poison gas, so by agitating it every once and a while you'd get ride of it before it reached dangerous levels. Would that be the correct way to do that or is there a better way?? Any tips or advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!

I have 3 Tetratec Ex700 canisters and 1x Aquavital EX800 Canister and all of my tanks have sand as substrait and have been running over a year With no probs at all, no impellar probs or flow control probs. , even when i had 1 tank empty (no fish but water) and just poured the sand (12KG) into the tank,

Re the agitation ive never agitated the sand nor found any water pockets of gas but some would recomend agitation every now and then.

 

[kribensis12]

I would suggest buying a foam cartrige for a AquaClear filter( like a $1.50), and cover the intake of the filter so the same dosent clog it up.

 

[andywg]

the other thing was I have read that with a sand bottom that you have to run your fingers through it every once and a while to make sure any kind of waste that gets down in it doesn't create and poison gas, so by agitating it every once and a while you'd get ride of it before it reached dangerous levels.

This is simply not needed. Head to the science forum to see why you don't need to stir your sand. The poison gas forming and actually doing any damage is just another internet myth.

 

[Straydum]

what i did was put some sponge into the filter cap and using nylon tie it down so that its at the bottom of the filter cap. i dont know if it'd work for you though

 

[schooly20]

Alright thanks everyone for clearing that up for me, I was a bit frightened that my great plan wasnt going to work but Im not worried any more. The sponge is a good idea, I think I'll try that just as an extra precaution. Thank again!