Sand Okay As Substrate?

razer121 · Jun 30, 2009

good read that!! shame the pictures were not there

i to have my filter about 2 inchs above the water and it seems fine, no chugging and no sand seems to be getting stuck in the impeller. ive used a poilshing filter pad to help get rid of any fine particals left

Winterlily · Jun 30, 2009

A sort of follow up question: A guy at the LFS told me today that while they don't sell aquarium sand, he suggests pool filter sand. ?? He said he suggests that as opposed to play sand because it's heavier. ?? Any thoughts on this?

Also... Is there any point to using gravel underneath the sand and just layering the sand on top like an inch? Or will the sand just end up falling all through the gravel anyhow? Or is there just no good reason to do it anyhow?

Thanks again!

oswoldy · Jun 30, 2009

Winterlily said:
A sort of follow up question: A guy at the LFS told me today that while they don't sell aquarium sand, he suggests pool filter sand. ?? He said he suggests that as opposed to play sand because it's heavier. ?? Any thoughts on this?

Also... Is there any point to using gravel underneath the sand and just layering the sand on top like an inch? Or will the sand just end up falling all through the gravel anyhow? Or is there just no good reason to do it anyhow?

Thanks again!

If you have gravel under the sand it will eventually work its way through the sand leaving you with a gravel substrate again so its best to remove all the gravel. Pool filter sand is an option however I don't know if its "Heavier" or not I do know the grains are bigger so it is less likely to get caught in the filter impellor as it should be filtered before it reaches it.

Regards
Mike

razer121 · Jun 30, 2009

i have gravel under my sand...well mixed in with it i think it gives a good effect, are you sure the gravels going to work its way through?? specially seems as there's more sand then gravel...

Yanks15 · Jun 30, 2009

I am interested in using sand over gravel in my soon-to-be 55gal. You say you have no problems with it. Why did you choose to do it that way? Do you have cichlids? How long before gravel pokes thru and does most of the sand end up under it?

Thanks.

waterdrop · Jun 30, 2009

Winterlily wrote:
"Also, okay, I understand about using playground sand. What about that black sand made specifically for aquariums? (Um... Tahitian Moon Sand it's called) I know it's more expensive, and I certainly wouldn't use it in the 55 gallon because of that, but I have a few 5 1/2 gallons tanks to fill for my male bettas, and the black sand might look nice. Is this not a good choice? I guess with black, I lose the ability to really see the poop though, huh?"

Black TMS (well, black substrates, black backgrounds in general) is/are very popular with a lot of aquarists because of its characteristic of allowing the aquarium lights to show off many color details of fish with greater constrast and presence against the black.

~~waterdrop~~

joel.uejio · Jun 30, 2009

Re: Pool Filter Sand
I'm new to aquariums, but based on some info I read I picked up pool filter sand as my substrate. It was a little difficult to locate a pool supply store that carries it, but so far I've been very pleased with the results. It's much coarser than play sand and so can be easily surface cleaned as others mentioned. My cories and snails seem pretty happy with it so far, and I like how it gives my tank a more natural look, so I think it was a good call.

Joel
Los Angeles, CA, USA
40 gal: 6 Land Hermit Crabs
20 gal long: 8 danios, 8 julii cories, 1 dwarf gourami, 1.5 snails
10 gal: 2 Land Hermit Crabs

oswoldy · Jul 1, 2009

razer121 said:
i have gravel under my sand...well mixed in with it i think it gives a good effect, are you sure the gravels going to work its way through?? specially seems as there's more sand then gravel...

Im 99% sure it will. You are supposed to stir up the sand once in a while to minimise air pockets (which can cause Ammonia spikes if left too long) that can build up in the sand and to stop it from compacting. It is this process that lifts the stones off the bottom and overtime the stones will reach the surface. When I changed mine from gravel to sand I left very few stones on the bottom and I can already see some coming through, but I just get them out with a net however some people like the gravel/sand look as they feel it looks more natural.

Mike

razer121 · Jul 1, 2009

well after reading up about the gravel i have decided to try and get it all out....wow what a mess! it would seem it has caused my ammonia to rise aswell, is that normal?? the mist is all thick again

i removed all the plants and such to do it as i had to use a siv to get the gravel out, of course i moved the filter to its own bucket.....ive left some in there as i do want some stones

oswoldy · Jul 1, 2009

razer121 said:
well after reading up about the gravel i have decided to try and get it all out....wow what a mess! it would seem it has caused my ammonia to rise aswell, is that normal?? the mist is all thick again i removed all the plants and such to do it as i had to use a siv to get the gravel out, of course i moved the filter to its own bucket.....ive left some in there as i do want some stones

It will go cloudy as you are disturbing all the sh*t that has sunken into the Gravel, it should settle pretty quickly. I would check your levels if you think they have been affected but I doubt they have, unless of course you have an UGF which im assuming you don't as you are adding sand. It will look cloudier because you have removed the filter.

Regards
Mike

Winterlily · Jul 4, 2009

Thanks so much to everyone replying! I am definitely going with sand (just sand). Actually bought a bag of pool filter sand yesterday and returned it because it was "angular cut" - can't be as good for the fish! So will stick with play sand. I cannot easily find TMS, except online where they want big money for shipping.

One quick question - I've read about 3M's ColorQuartz and how happy people are with it. Anyone have any experience with it good or bad? (I'll probably start a separate thread about this, too.)

Thanks!!