new tank with sand

[tdins_2]

i finally got my 70g cichlid tank i put a sand subsrate but ive never done this before.

will my powerhead stirr up my tank and will there always be a sand cloud currently im still filling it ..this is gonna take forever.......sofar 20 bucketfulls and im 3/4s

 

[Loveless]

powerhead? do you have underwater filter? if you have a underground filter setup then sand might not be good idea for you

my plants doesn't seem to want to grow in sand

what color is your sand? if you have lighter colored or darker colored sand then expect fish poo to show very easily

 

[tdins_2]

light colored sand that goes dark when i put water on it and no real plants and a powerhead is not an undergravel filter its the same sort of concept as the hang over style but it suckktion cups to the galss and is almost fully submerged

 

[Loveless]

well, I just hope everything works out for you

I ditched sand for clay because I wanted plants... and that the poop looked sooo nasty

Hope your sand doesn't rise up too high when you are moving things around or cleaning the tank. Maybe you even want to unplug the filter when you're doing the mentioned.

 

[SteveB]

I used a course grain sand and the plants love it, doesn't seem to impede the roots and it doesn't "pack down". Also I used Rabbit droppings once a month as a fertiliser, plants have gone MAD!.

 

[justethe]

hey travis that power head i gave you mite make it go all clowdy but you can try

 

[Tropjunky]

powerhead why use one ur filter outlet will do the exact same thing and there won't be a problem when cleaming ur tank get a sphion going and use that to suck up the dirt from ur tank and plants should take to the sand like fish to water.