What'S The Best Sand For Cory'S?

[Plecc]

Hi,

I would like to change the substrate in my thank from pea gravel to sand, to make my bottom feeders happier.
I was told play sand works well, whats the difference between regular play sand and the expensive specialist stuff?
Does anyone have problems keeping there tank clean using sand? it must be very difficult not to vacuum it all up.

 

[arobinson1984]

Not much difference to be honest, apart from the price tag. Most aquarium sand is pre-washed.

I have argos play sand in my tank and is fine for corys and plecs. Just ensure it is washed properly before going into the tank.

Its not hard to vac once you get the hang of it. I find it easier to not use the hard plastic tube on a gravel vac, I take that part off and just use the thin flexible tube to suck up waste, hovering about 1" above the sand.

Andy

 

[Plecc]

Great!

How deep is the sand in the bottom of your tank?
Whats the best way to change my gravel to sand without stressing my fish out too much?

Thanks for the quick response.

 

[arobinson1984]

My sand is about 2" deep as the tank is planted.

When I changed mine over, I got a large polystyrene box from my lfs, most lfs will have some from when they recieve deliveries of large fish, they are used to insulate and help maintain water temp when in transit. Some lfs may charge you for one, probably 50p or £1, mine just gave me one.

I filled the polystyrene box with tank water, put a spare heater in it with an air stone and transferred all the fish into there, they were in there for a total of about 2 hours and were all fine.

Once tank is fishless, you can drain all water out, take out all gravel, wash sand well and add to tank, refill tank with dechlored water and allow tank to get back to correct temperature before adding fish back into the tank.

Andy

 

[Plecc]

Thanks,

Perfect, thats exactly what i want to do! (have to have plants!)
Do you have any problems with waste and food getting under the sand and going stagnant, if you only vacuum the surface?
Will a regular cool-box used for food and drink be OK for the change over?

Plecc.

 

[arobinson1984]

Should be fine, just make sure you put a heater in.

Waste tends to stay on the top as the sand creates a solid surface whereas gravel has gaps between pieces. You occassionally get a bit going underneath if you have fish like cories that disturb the sand but it doesnt cause problems.

Andy

 

[Plecc]

My tank has been running for over 6 months now,
As long as i don't clean out the filter and add 50% old tank water back in to the new setup can i avoid having to cycle the tank again?

 

[waterdrop]

Oh good, I get to repeat one of my favorite bits! Got this from one of the premier cory breeders in the US. The very best substrate for bottom dwellers is... free! (not expecting you to do this as its somewhat more trouble than usual, but good info just in case..) You take a hike up a stream or creek. Try and get away from any areas of development by humans if you can. Take along some plastic containers and boots and just scoop up some of the natural sand and gravel mix at one of the bends in the stream. If you examine various places closely its not hard to find substrate that has been worn entirely smooth by the action of the water and contains particles of a wide range of sizes.

Just rinse it out with a long bucket hose clean session, as you would any substrate and consider pouring a few kettles of boiling water on it for good measure as one of the cleaning steps and you should be good to go!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[arobinson1984]

If the Op's from UK like me then it wont be as easy to find, we dont have as many streams and creeks as you have WD lol, mostly cities here lol, there will be some places you can get it from though, the op may know of some nearby to them. May find some in the lake district if you are anywhere near.

Regarding the filter plecc, the benefical bacteria is in the filter, not the water so you dont need to put 50% tank water back in, filling it up with fresh dechlorinated water is fine. Make sure you keep the filter in tank water whilst you do the changeover, put some tankwater in a bucket and put the filter in there, alternatively, if its an external filter, leave the cannister full of tank water. You need to keep the filter media wet and it will be fine. (obviously not in tap water lol)

Your gravel may contain minimal amounts of beneficial bacteria so when you have done the changeover and the tanks back up and running, just keep an eye of ammonia levels whilst the filter catches up to any bacteria lost in the gravel. If it raises slightly then do a water change. You may not see a rise at all, I didnt when I changed over as there is only minimal amounts of bacteria in the gravel.

Andy

 

[Plecc]

Thanks so much for all your feedback guys,

Waterdrop, that's a great idea, i am surrounded by little streams and rivers but unfortunately most around my area are lined with a muddy silt, i did find some smooth shingle in a faster flowing area of one of the streams, but with a farmers crop on one side and a busy country road on the other, i was too concerned about contamination from fuel. oil and pesticides. Any idea if i can remove these contaminants by just boiling all the gravel?
Now when I'm out in more remote areas (probably fishing, pikeing at the moment!)I will keep an eye out for good areas.

Arobinson1984, Last Saturday the weather here was so bad, i decided to get on with it and do the gravel/sand swap.
Everything went great!
The only small problem was my 40/50 Bristlenose Pleco babies. (for anyone that needs to move any small sucker-mouth fish babies that would be damaged if you tried to use a net!) I found a smooth large diameter siphon hose so handy, make sure there are no taps or restrictions along the whole length of the tube, for obvious reasons.
Then carefully vacuum the fry from your main tank into there temporary tank.
My fry have been in there new tank for 4 days now and so far 0 casualties.
Two days after the swap i did see a small rise in ammonia, but a very small amount, I am still testing daily but things are looking good.

For anyone that wants to change to sand without spending a small fortune.
The sand-pit play sand from Argos is great, especially at 2.99 a bag!
It's a 15K bag, which was enough to cover the bottom of my 4'x 1' tank to a depth of just under 2".
Make sure you spend as much time as possible washing the sand to remove any fine silt, it will all pay off later.

I do a water change and vacuum the gravel every week and try to keep my tank in good shape, but the muck and sludge under my old gravel was unbelievable.
Now that the waste mostly stays on the surface of the sand will i need to feed the plant's to keep them healthy?

Plecc.

 

[arobinson1984]

Glad to hear it all went well plecc.

Just keep an eye on the ammonia levels for any slight spikes like you have spotted, water change if neccessaary.

The filter should colonise enough bacteria to compensate for what was in the gravel within a week or so.

Andy