Sang/gravel Mix?

[KRamgren89]

i really like my natural rock aquarium gravel, but i also would like to give sand a go as i know it'll be better for my corys!! (and i luvv my lil guys) so i guess my question is, can i literally MIX the gravel and sand together and spread on the bottom? or can i do one side gravel the other side sand??

also here's a good question.... how many inches of substrate should be on the bottom of a tank?? my intake tube for my filter is actually sitting quite high up on the tank, i bought it used from my LFS YEARS ago and i never received an extension.


last but not least. can i use regular ''play sand'' or as some ppl know it as sandbox sand, the real coarse sand with big and little peices of rocks in it?? i use it for my reptile aquariums as i have reptiles that burrow, but was wondering if i could also use it in aquariums, if so, how can i wash it to make sure its safe for my tank?

lots of questions yes i know, but its my 'fishy ambition' to just GET GOOD at the tanks that i have and make them the best they can be within budget

 

[Man of fish]

Ok so you can't mix them because the sand will just fall through the gravel making firmly packed gravel but what you could do and IMO looks pretty good put either the gravel or sand on both sides how ever far you want maybe 1/4 of the tank on each side then put the alternative in the middle and get a nice background of a river and it'll look riverish. You could also make your "river" curve. It'll look great!
Id do more in the back less in the front so maybe from 3 or 3.5 inches down to 2 or 2.5 inches in the front.
Yes you can use play sand. What you will need to do is put some in a bucket and repeatedly rinse dump water repeat until the water runs clear and do this as long as it takes to fill the tank. I'd recommend having 2 five gallon buckets going at a time and filling them about 1/4 to 1/3 full with sand before rinsing. good luck I hope I helped

 

[Fishy friend2]

Why not replace all the gravel with sand instead for these reasons
Cheaper than aquarium gravel
Looks better IMO
Easier to clean
Easier to maintain
Doesn't get as dirty quickly
Most fish love it
Sand doesn't get trapped I it and stays on top so fish can easily get it

 

[KRamgren89]

i suppose we probably could replace it all, so 2- 5 gallon buckets going at once, i get that u fill it about 1/4 full and rinse, but i guess i feel a little dumb on the 'dump' part, what am i dumping it into?? i know it sounds dunb! but im super nervous to switch over to sand but we really want to,... also not looking forward to catching 4 bronze corys, 2 sterbi corys, 2 swordtails, 2 mollies and 2 platys! all super fast swimmers

 

[fluttermoth]

What you do is put some sand, not too much in a bucket and run it under a tap; an outside tap, or a hosepipe is best.

Fill the bucket up with water, stirring the sand as you do. Then pour all the water and all stuff in it out; it will be full of dust and light particles of sand.

Repeat until all that's in your bucket is the heavy sand.

When you think it's clean, fill the bucket one more time, still stirring the sand, then leave it for four or five seconds; if all the sand sinks in that time, then it's clean enough to use. If there's still some cloudiness in the water, then it's not clean enough yet.

It's really worth spending time to get the sand clean before it goes in your tank, or it will cloud your water, and be really ruthless about pouring away all the light stuff, even if you lose a bit of the good sand along with it.