Adding Sand

[willowstwin]

I know you're all going to jump on me and say what a horrible idea this is, but I seriously have no choice

As some of you may know, I've recently rescued some fish from a hideously gross tank, but I didn't have the substrate ready (it was a rush job)

I got some play sand from argos, it's washed and ready to go in, but I don't know how to get it into the tank while the fish are still in there... I'm worried they'll suffer if the water goes cloudy (I've been rinsing it for hours so it shouldn't make it too cloudy).

Whats the best way to add it? All at one end and gently brush it to the rest of the tank?

Willow

 

[Rickzayne]

Either put this fish in a bucket for a few hours with the heater and filter then drain it down and start from scratch or

Clean it then put it in a jug and lower it in slowly and tip it out....

 

[laura120381]

hi there,

i was advised to wet the sand (it already will be if you are rinsing it!) and then use a glass to lower it into the tank bit by bit!!

good luck

 

[StandbySetting]

Get a piece of rigid plastic piping and place it in the tank so the bottom of the pipe reaches where the substrate will be, then poor any sand down the tube to keep clouding to a minimum, then just run floss in the filter.

 

[willowstwin]

I was thinking a jug bit by bit. Shouldn't take me long (although if it took me hours I wouldn't care after what these poor fish have been through).

I don't want to catch them and put them in a bucket as they had enough stress of being caught on friday

I'll do it gently with a jug or a mug or something. They'll have a lovely lush tank before they know it

 

[Rickzayne]

Lol yup xD add come nice tall plants while your at it xD

 

[Tizer]

Just use a cup and scoop it in, lower it to the bottom and let it pour out. Its soooo easy, its even got a handle!

 

[Hermithall]

Yeah, Argos sand is safe especially as you've rinsed it - I would use the technique already suggested of lowering it to the bottom of the tank in some sort of vessel then gently pouring it out (I'd use a plastic jug if you have one in case you knock the side of the tank). Just take your time, it'll be fine.

 

[ron4sum1]

You can get an empty bottle and fill it with sand. Put it in the water so the bottle gets filled with water, so the air between the sand goes off. Rotate it and start pouring the sand to the bottom. The "mouth" of the bottle must be quite close to the bottom to reduce clouding. As the sand goes to the bottom, water rushes inside the bottle (sand out and water in). So, as the sand leaves the bottle, it gets extra cleaning and the dirt will stay on top of the flipped bottle. :]

 

[willowstwin]

argh! Wish I'd seen the bottle tip earlier, I now have a slightly cloudy tank regardless of how gentle I was

waiting a while for it to settle then major water change here I come (with stuff on the sand to stop dispersal and more clouding)

 

[Kelly-Jo]

I did this yesterday; except I changed from gravel to sand. I took all my fish out and put them into a 50 litre plastic bin with their old water and the heater for around 2 hours and they were absolutely fine. Then I was able to give it a really good scrub as it was stripped completely down and add the rinsed sand with literally no clouding. I'd recommend removing the fish and water personally.

 

[willowstwin]

AAAAIIIIIEEEEHHH!!! I just walked back into the prep room and the biggest rummy nose is having a fit and nosing all the sand and making a right mess it looks like he's trying to swim through it