Before And After

[dthoffsett]

Well I was bored last night (dangerous for the fish hobby I know), and was kind of watching tv and staring at the tanks. So, of course, I decided I needed a change, plus I'd been meaning to set up my QT tank for a few weeks so I could finish stocking the 75gal. I remembered I had some sand in the closet (which is good since the hardware stores aren't open @ 11pm), leftover from an earlier setup. So, out went the grave in my 29gal and the bettas' 10gal, and in went sand. I used the gravel from the bettas' tank and one of the sponges from the filter (that tank has 2 filters running) to put in the QT tank so i wouldn't have to cycle it. The water is still a little cloudy in the 29gal, but what an improvement.

First the 29 gal.

Before

After

On the left you see the abdomen of a shrimp holding eggs, and in the middle towards the back there is another shrimp. They've been succesfully breeding in the tank and one shrimp from a previous batch survived that's around an inch, and there is a tiny little 1/4 inch one in there that I can't get a clear pic of. I think they've been breeding and raising them in the driftwood.

Next the 10 betta tank

Before

After

The QT tank, just bits and pieced from the other tanks, there are 3 x-ray tetras from the 29gal in there at the moment until I pick up a few labs today.

Hope you all enjoy.

 

[downsouth]

How easy is it to clean your tank with the sand? I have gravel now and it is easy to "vaccuum", but how do you keep the sand clean? I definately like the look of the sand better.

 

[dthoffsett]

The poo sits on top of the sand instead of falling down into gravel, so you get the syphon about an inch or so above the surface and swirl it around to make the poo float, then just suck it up.

Oh, and I forgot to add, ignore the "dirt" on top of the sand in the betta tank, its just plant fertilizer that got stirred up from changing the substrate.

 

[spilz]

hey i have the same taste in fish as you lol
i have harlequin rasboras
a betta
silvertips
and even a golden apple snail
how weird
first tank is great by the way

 

[~T~]

Looks good, I just converted 2 of mine back to gravel cos my fish always seemed to get sick when I had sand.

 

[chishnfips]

The tanks look good, sand is so much nicer I reckon.

 

[cane76]

they all look much better with sand

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Hey I have the same skull decoration as you. lol . I really think the tanks look much nicer now.

 

[GuppyDude]

I love sand, easy to clean, and looks fantastic. The only turn off is that unles you have a good current going, alot of junk builds up on the bottom pretty quick. (not anymore than useral, but its visable)

 

[dthoffsett]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. I really like the sand too, and the cories are loving it. I just love to watch the snuffle through the sand. The shrimp are pretty funny too.

Fish-r-fancy, my bettas really like the skull decos, they sleep in them all night. The CT gets irritated though cause the shrimp like it hide in it, and he doesn't like to share.