Sand

[wayne84]

Hi all

The time as come for me to change my big main tank to sand ( will be doing it very soon ) theres a few things i would like help on from people who already have sand ive been told that when i first add sand its going to go very very misty and also the tank will look a mess ? how long will it be like this? also how hard is it to clean as i take it you can not use the normal gravel cleaner to suck up all the dirt on water changes thats the main things i need to know but if there is anything else people would like to tell me about sand it would be great

 

[SuperColey1]

Just put a few kg at a time in a bucket and leave the tap water running over the bucket. The fin particles 'mist causers' will be removed with the water overflowing from the bucket.

After 20 mins put the washed sand in another bucket, then do your next few kg.

The sand will look like sludge but only until it has the water volume over it in the tank.

 

[wayne84]

cheers for that how deep would you say go with sand about the same as stones ? also how about cleaning is it easy ?

 

[fishboy619]

i have a layer of 1.5-2com of sand. its easier to clean than gravel i think, you can see the dirt so knowing its there is better than the fish crap falling though th gaps in the gravel. just hold your siphon tube an inch above the sand to suck up the dirt, only a tiny amount of sand will follow.becareful of buildups of nitrates under the sand. either get a kuhlii loach or cories (disturbs the sands top layer) or every water change, us a stick (chop stick works well) and poke it in to the sand, carfully not stiring up the sand, it will sort the problem out, or get a few MTS. they work. with live plants, the roots usally help a lot.

 

[doresy]

I would love to do that....I spent a bit on black quartz and am now heavily planted so a change now would be major.......one day maybe.

I think for you wash wash wash and then wash again!!

With the vacing, do a slow sort of figure of 8 about 1" above sand surface and the poo etc should disturb before the sand and up it goes. I have to do that with my quartz, a little practice and soon it becomes second nature

 

[wayne84]

i already have cories thats the main reason i want to go to sand ( so thats a good thing then ) and the fact that i think it looks so nice

 

[n3ont3tra]

I'm currently in the process of changing right now. I took about an hour for me to get all the fish and water out, including some baby kuhlies. Then I put the sand in and filled the water up. It's been about half an hour and I can only see my hand 2 inches away. I regret not washing it very long. All I did was put the sand in a bucket and let it overflow for about 10 minutes.

For your fish, I bought a big tub from home depot, it's 18g and was only $4. I first put all the plants into it, then started taking water out of the tank. Once it got low in the tank, I unplugged the filters and took more water out. When it got toe the height where I could put filters into the tub, I did so, and then I caught most of the fish. For the fast fish, I just kept draining the water out until I could catch them. Just remember to put a heater in and make sure you have some kind of aeration in with the fish. I actually think mine like it in there.

 

[Torrean]

...anyone else who is planning on doing this take a look at the pinned topics. there is a good write up on changing from gravel to sand. (you don't have to remove your fish)

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=71021#

 

[SuperColey1]

You don't have to move your fish, but IMO it is easier to and quicker.

r.e. depth. It all depends on if you are going planted or not.

If you are then you should put a nutriant rich substrate under the sand, if not then follow the link as torrean said and it will tell you about depths etc.

As already said in this thread sand can get anaerobic pocketsif not disturbed.

I am lucky in that I am heavily planted and the roots will remove some of the chance of this, also I hae pitbull plecs, who like the corys disturb the sand while they are rooting around in it , or playing. I also inherited some trumpet snails with a plants, and they do a great job.

Good Luck, and don't worry too much Sand looks great

1 tip if you hav an internal filter and spray bar.

Point the spraybar holes directly at the front (horizontally about 2 inches from the water surface)

The current it produces will push all the poop around to the back of the tank. (Or if planted like me push al the poop to twhere all the plants are)

 

[PENNYWISE]

ehen i changed to sand i put it in an old pillow case and ran the hose npipe through it for about half an hour and then i just plopped it in when i added the water i placed i placed a dish in the corner and slowley took my time to fill up with water, i never had a problem with cloudy water 10 minutes later the fish were put back in and they made therte own little places digging away and looking great

how do i put a picture on here changed since last time

 

[Torrean]

put it in photo bucket and then paste the IMG thing into a post

 

[PENNYWISE]

cant get this to work!!!!

 

[Albaba]

I had a very cloudy tank after changing it to sand without rinsing it properly. I bought some very fine grade filter wool and it cleared up real fast. It had been cloudy for over a week before i did that

Albaba