Sand?

[robyngunston]

Hi there,

I have read the post above and I have mostly Cory's cats in my tank and have decided that sand would be a better option as apparently they would like it more than my existing gravel....okay...where do I start?

I am assuming I can get sand from somewhere....what sand would be best? I remember reading an article a little while ago where someone said they used play sand....what is play sand and is this what I should be using? Also....do you only put sand in or is it a mixture of sand and gravel.

And then.....how do you go about putting it in the tank? I read somewhere just to keep running water over it until the water was clear?

I was wondering.....when you are cleaning the tank thereafter....do you not suck the sand up when you are cleaning?

Lots of questions and so little time. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[flumpit2]

hi cory cat,iv got sand in with my peppered corys and they really do love it more tha gravel!!
play sand is the type of sand that kids use in there sand pits.you can get it from argos,toys r us,b&q etc.also lfs do a range of aquatic sands aswel.
before i put mine in the tank i put it in a bucket & filled it with hot water & swished it around,then tipped the water out (so any floating particles & dust that would cloud your tank went down the sink.i done this loads of times til the water was clear,then i let the sand sit in cold water for a short while as it can retain the heat from the hot water.the more you wash it the less chance there is that your water will go cloudy.
some people have both gravel & sand in there tank (seperated by stone or something similar).i tried this at first but the goldfish kept spiting the gravel onto the sand side,pesky fish,lol!!
i removed the gravel & put the sand in jug full by jug full.i then placed a dish in there & poured the water into the dish so as not to disturb the sand too much.
when i clean the sand i hold the vac just above it and it seems to pick up the crap without losing too much sand.everyones got there own technique for this tho,its just trial & error.
putting sand into my tank is the best thing iv done as not only do the corys love it but it looks nicer than gravel aswel.
anymore questions,feel free to ask.imnot an expert but i know what worked for me.shaz

 

[fishstick]

hi cory cat,iv got sand in with my peppered corys and they really do love it more tha gravel!!
play sand is the type of sand that kids use in there sand pits.you can get it from argos,toys r us,b&q etc.also lfs do a range of aquatic sands aswel.
before i put mine in the tank i put it in a bucket & filled it with hot water & swished it around,then tipped the water out (so any floating particles & dust that would cloud your tank went down the sink.i done this loads of times til the water was clear,then i let the sand sit in cold water for a short while as it can retain the heat from the hot water.the more you wash it the less chance there is that your water will go cloudy.
some people have both gravel & sand in there tank (seperated by stone or something similar).i tried this at first but the goldfish kept spiting the gravel onto the sand side,pesky fish,lol!!
i removed the gravel & put the sand in jug full by jug full.i then placed a dish in there & poured the water into the dish so as not to disturb the sand too much.
when i clean the sand i hold the vac just above it and it seems to pick up the crap without losing too much sand.everyones got there own technique for this tho,its just trial & error.
putting sand into my tank is the best thing iv done as not only do the corys love it but it looks nicer than gravel aswel.
anymore questions,feel free to ask.imnot an expert but i know what worked for me.shaz

Hi I also have got some sand as well as gravel. I pushed the gravel away from the centre and carefully put in the sand so it looked as though there was a beach. the gravel is roughly round it. My corys love snuffling about in the sand and you can see it coming out of their gills

 

[Sheridanp]

Hey, can I see a pic of your tank(last poster)? That beach setup sounds neat.

 

[jakey boi]

Hi,
Lots of people use play sand but you must clean it thoroughly. I personally think that sand and gravel in a tank looks very nice. You can also buy sand at your lfs but it is alot more expensive.
Jake

 

[fishstick]

Hey, can I see a pic of your tank(last poster)? That beach setup sounds neat.

Yes I will try to get a photo of my beach to post here. I think everyhing- plants, fish even messy bits show up much better against sand; gravel confuses the eye and can conceal stuff which should not be left to rot in the tank.

 

[robyngunston]

Thanks for all the advice guys!
I am having to replace the gravel anyone....so I thought I may as well try sand.

 

[geo7x]

sorry i may be too late, but a tip for when putting water over the sand (so the water doesnt push the sand out the way and stir it up in the water) is that before you put the water in, place a dish on the sand and put the water in the dish and let it overflow onto the sand, then obviously take the dish out once filled up. It's quite hard to explain, if you dont understand then tell me and i can try and explain better.