Thinking Of Switching To Sand

[Mikaila31]

I've been thinking of doing this for awhile, but I have a few questions . The tank is a 20gal, high with 2wpg and CO2.

1) I have about a 2-3" layer of pure flourite that aready in the tank, How many inches of sand should go on top of this?
2) When I add the sand should I take all the plants out?
3) what's the best way to make sure the flourite and sand don't mix?
4) I have a ton of nocturnal snails in this tank that hid in the substrate during the day, Will they be able to hid in the sand?
5) I'm planing a dwarf hairgrass carpet, will this work better with sand or without?

Thanks ,
Mikaila31

 

[nry]

I may be wrong, but generally putting a fresh new substrate on top of an old one is a bad idea. It knackers the biological aspect of the substrate, all the bacteria etc, and it can cause major problems with water quality because of this.

Sand will sink through larger substrate, so you could end up with a mix of sand/flourite.

The ideal is to strip the tank, remove the flourite, add the sand, refill. You'll probably need to drain the tank entirely anyhow as the sand will make a right mess if you add it with water still in the tank.

Not sure on the snails, if they are malaysian trumpet snails then I think they will be fine with sand, though not sure how they'd cope being covered with loads of the stuff if you drop it over the flourite.