Sand Substrate

[JasonandJill]

I've got a bit sidetracked from what I had planned to do and decided to change my gravel substrate to sand (I was going to do it a few months back but never got to do it)
The question is, after washing the sand in tap water, do i need to give it a swill round in dechlorinated water before putting it in the tank? The sand is wet and i'm not convinced I can drain it that well. Thanks

 

[KittyKat]

Small amounts of chlorine and chloramine won't harm fish, so it should be fine as long as you drain most of the water out.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah i never bothered washing it in dechlorinated water, just did it in a bucket full of water straight from the tap- if you drain the sand the amount left in it will be pretty minimal anyway .

 

[JasonandJill]

Thanks for that, I assumed that was the case but have got into big trouble before when i've assumed

 

[elisew]

So long as you wash the sand thoroughly until the water runs pretty clear you should be fine. I`ve never washed my sand through with dechlorinated water

 

[JasonandJill]

Like I said, assuming gets me into trouble.
Hypothetically, obviously, I might have assumed that I was doing a good job at cleaning my gravel. Now, if I was wrong, it'd be a complete nightmare removing the gravel with fish and water in the tank. Even worse if they were guppy fry sized. I reckon the water could get so cloudy that you couldn't see the gr
avel, let alone the fish.
Lesson learnt.
Top tip, unless you're absolutely sure it's spotless below the gravel on the bottom of your tank, remove EVERYTHING before changing substrate. It's possible to do but very risky and time consuming. I couldn't even see a 1' piece of bogwood in a 3' tank.