Sand And Gravel

[FishFanatic13]

hi i would like to have sand as my substrate. but have some questions about it.
first how would you clean it without it going up the gravel vacuum.
and whats the best sand to have.

 

[Arktica]

I use argos play sand although there is nicer sand available this is very cheap.

When i do a water change, i use a hose to siphen off water, this hose can be used to suck up all the waste product collected on top of the sand. Some sand will collect (so dont throw old aquarium water down your sink!) over a long period of time you will need to top up any lost sand.

All sand should be thoroughly rinsed before added to an aquarium.

 

[jimn]

hi i would like to have sand as my substrate. but have some questions about it.
first how would you clean it without it going up the gravel vacuum.
and whats the best sand to have.

I have never used sand but have done a fair amount of research while choosing my latest substrate. Apparently you hover the vacuum about in inch over the top of the sand so it picks up any waste without disturding the sand. i'm sure there is a fine line but I would imagine one you have done it once you would get the hang of it. regarding which sand is best depends on what you want. For example some sands buffer the PH which would be fine for an african cichlid set up but not great for a community aquarium. If you go for a light coloured sand some of your fish may not be at their full potential colour wise as they don't feel as secure if it is too light. dark sands will get better colours from your fish - Tahitian moon by caribbsea as a black sand that does not buffer the water and would be my personal choice if I was to get a sand. Also with sand over time you may get gas pockets form which are toxic to fish. To avoid this you need to disturb the sand over now and again so could use your vac when it isn't siphering. also malaysian trumpet snails will do this naturally for you. I hope this is of some help.

 

[OldMan47]

You just hold the siphon high enough above the sand to avoid picking any up but close enough that you can wave the end around and stir the waste up off the sand. The stirred up dirt goes right up the tube and the sand just sits where it is. You can learn the technique rather easily if you just take things carefully he first time you do it.

 

[GAB99]

and im pretty sure cories do a great job of stirring the sand as well

 

[didz04]

I have crystal clear silica (white) sand and i only used a full back of 4.5kg to fill up my 4ft tank.
I have a plec and i was aware that there will be a lot of his excreation around the tank but is there any way of getting rid of it, like a certain filter best for them. I think i might be giving him in to the lfs shop tomorrow anyways.
This type of sand is really fine and snowy type, when my fish move around a lot of it floats with the current and settles back down and its really funny as with my common plec has got a armor type skin, my congo cichlid spat some sand out of his mouth onto the plec and he looked like a snow plec lol.