Sand Substrate

[savo318]

ive just replaced the gravel in my planted tank for gravel. have i made a mistake or will everything in my tank be better for the switch

 

[Luke_e]

*confuse*.
Topic title = Sand substrate, but you say in the thread you've replaced gravel for gravel?

 

[savo318]

*confuse*.
Topic title = Sand substrate, but you say in the thread you've replaced gravel for gravel?

sorry imeant replaced gravel for sand

 

[Luke_e]

hehe, not a problem i thought you might of ment that..

It depends what you're wanting the change for. Its deffinantly easier to keep clean vs gravel as you can clean the poop straight off the top, but it may look horrible if the poop builds up without it being vacced off.
If you look at it from a planted tank aspect, some people from their experience (i have pretty much no planted tank experience yet) say some plants prefer gravel to sand, and some prefer sand to gravel, so it depends which plants.

 

[savo318]

hehe, not a problem i thought you might of ment that..

It depends what you're wanting the change for. Its deffinantly easier to keep clean vs gravel as you can clean the poop straight off the top, but it may look horrible if the poop builds up without it being vacced off.
If you look at it from a planted tank aspect, some people from their experience (i have pretty much no planted tank experience yet) say some plants prefer gravel to sand, and some prefer sand to gravel, so it depends which plants.

ill see how it goes, i want some java plants unfortunatley my lfs is bit crap and dosent sell any

 

[Qays]

cool! can we see pics?

People say the muck gets left on the top, Doesnt some get wedged into the sand?

 

[savo318]

cool! can we see pics?

People say the muck gets left on the top, Doesnt some get wedged into the sand?

ill send some pics tomorrow , and at the moment all the muck iss all on the top, the sands only been in about three hours, some of the fish seem a bit unhappy about the change, my clown loaches mostly, but they usually sulk if i add anything new

 

[Luke_e]

Quays. Depends if you have bottom dwellers, corys and such can break the poop up and this causes problems as it can get trapped under the first few mm, sometimes further, but it can be stirred up. Plus sand needs to be stirred regulary to stop anairobic (without air) bacteria building up. A simple chop stick or even finger can solve this problem by stirring it up.

 

[savo318]

Quays. Depends if you have bottom dwellers, corys and such can break the poop up and this causes problems as it can get trapped under the first few mm, sometimes further, but it can be stirred up. Plus sand needs to be stirred regulary to stop anairobic (without air) bacteria building up. A simple chop stick or even finger can solve this problem by stirring it up.

ive got some snails that have been crawling around in the sand, ive had them for a while and dont seem to bother the plants, i was hoping they would stop it compacting

 

[Luke_e]

If they are malasian trumpet snails they should stop it compacting, but i dont know of any others that bury into the sand.