Attention: People With Sand

[LucyB]

Okay, so I have always had gravel, but I was thinking of switching to sand?

The fish I have in my community tank are
.Firemouth cichlid
.Pleco
.zebra danios
.platies
.penguin tetra
and planning on getting more fish like corydoras

I want to know:

.Is vivarium sand and aquarium sand the same?
.Is it okay for the fish I have?
.Is it better for plants?
.Is it hard to keep clean?
.Could I use argos play sand?

And any other things you can tell me about sand in an aquarium...


Thanks in advance guys!!

 

[Malawi MaD]

Argos play sand is fine and looks nice, Just make sure you give it a good rinse. The fish will prefer it especially if you get corydoras and the plants will also benefit from having a sand substrate. Its easy to maintain as all the rubbish sits on the top of the sand and you can go along when doing a water change and suck it all up.

 

[Rocknrobyn]

Do u need to put anything under the sand??

 

[LucyB]

Thanks

Do you have argos play sand?

 

[UKSPEED]

Argos play sand is fine and looks nice, Just make sure you give it a good rinse. The fish will prefer it especially if you get corydoras and the plants will also benefit from having a sand substrate. Its easy to maintain as all the rubbish sits on the top of the sand and you can go along when doing a water change and suck it all up.

I currently have gravel. Out of curiosity, when using a vacuum to clean the tank, does it not suck up the sand too?

 

[LucyB]

Argos play sand is fine and looks nice, Just make sure you give it a good rinse. The fish will prefer it especially if you get corydoras and the plants will also benefit from having a sand substrate. Its easy to maintain as all the rubbish sits on the top of the sand and you can go along when doing a water change and suck it all up.

I currently have gravel. Out of curiosity, when using a vacuum to clean the tank, does it not suck up the sand too?

Thats what I was thinking, how do you clean it without sucking it up?!

 

[Malawi MaD]

Do u need to put anything under the sand??

Depends if you'r wanting to plant your tank .. Could add a plant fertiliser underneath the sand.

 

[Tizer]

swirl the vac around 6 inches off the bottom, suck up poop!

 

[Malawi MaD]

Argos play sand is fine and looks nice, Just make sure you give it a good rinse. The fish will prefer it especially if you get corydoras and the plants will also benefit from having a sand substrate. Its easy to maintain as all the rubbish sits on the top of the sand and you can go along when doing a water change and suck it all up.

I currently have gravel. Out of curiosity, when using a vacuum to clean the tank, does it not suck up the sand too?

Thats what I was thinking, how do you clean it without sucking it up?!

A little will be sucked up but nothing to major. I always have half a bag left just to top up my tank (if) it starts to look a little low. As long as you dont put it to close to the sand it will be fine

 

[soybean]

I changed a few months ago and really wish I'd started out with sand from the start. It's SO much easier to keep clean, and corys love it. I used Tesco play sand.

As for cleaning, if you take the head of the gravel cleaner off the tubing, you can just use the tube. It sucks up the top layer and obviously you don't have to burrow it in at all. Inevitably you will get a bit of sand up at first but with practise you'll get the hang of it. Any sand you do suck up can be rinsed out and put back in the tank.

 

[mike455555]

how do you wash the sand to start off with... im also thinking of swiching or for future set ups

 

[Aqua Tom]

how do you wash the sand to start off with... im also thinking of swiching or for future set ups

Get a bucket, half fill it with sand then just keep filling with water, when its full just empty out the stuff thats floating, you have to be unmerciful. Keep it up untill the water in the bucket is clear when filled, then add sand to tank

 

[mike455555]

could you put a hose in and just leave it to overflow? long if the sand at the bottom dident get stirred to much it should be ok?

 

[Rocknrobyn]

Do u need to put anything under the sand??

Depends if you'r wanting to plant your tank .. Could add a plant fertiliser underneath the sand.

oh ok thanks. I am going to be getting sand soon!!!

 

[This Old Spouse]

could you put a hose in and just leave it to overflow? long if the sand at the bottom dident get stirred to much it should be ok?

You WANT the sand to get stirred up a lot to remove all the fine silt and dust in the sand, so no, you can't just put the hose in and walk away. It takes some work and you need to keep stirring it to get it clean enough to put in your tank, otherwise you'll run the risk of ruining your filter.