Stryker
Fishaholic
I found a few of my fish in the community tank had the very beginings of an ich infection. It was my own fault, I had two tanks and no quarantine tank and had recently bought some new fish.
So having a spare 60L tank I decided to setup a new quarantine and hospital tank. I figured with all this talk about how great sand tanks were I'd be damned if I were going to run 3 tanks and not have this new 3rd tank as sand
So I've got tank 3 setup with the ichy fish as per my signature. My community tank got a half douse of ich meds and the hospital tank has a full douse of ich meds.
So my experience with sand? well here is what I found, hope it helps someone. Using some established filter media I've got a sand tank up and running inside of 3 hours.
1. Based on what people have said re various sands, buying aquarium sand has to be worth every penny! Its selected I guess owing to its grain and is clean to start with. I did give it a clean tho, put it in a large bucket and ran the hose in it stiring it up. At first I thought all I'm doing is flushing away my sand. But having thought about it I was simply flushing the dusty stuff out that you inevitably get with all sand. And true, in about 5 mins the water overflowing the bucket was clear. Rule one, WASH THE SAND
2. Ok so I got a bucket of drained but soggy sand. When putting it in the tank use a kids play spade or just your hands. Being in a rush I started tipping the bucket in. Ok, its sand, you'll tip and shake the bucket and the damn stuff wont budge an inch till WHOLLOP half of it hits the bottom of your tank! its wet its very heavy and I was lucky to still have a tank! Rule two, spoon the sand over with hands or small plastic spade!
3. I cant stipulate how handy it is to put a dinner plate on your sand then gently fill your tank by tipping the water onto the plate. The plate directs the force of the falling water upwards so no sand storms for my tank. I ended up with a tank full of clear water.
4. Get the air out of your sand, there WILL be air. Instead of whipping my sand up to get the job done in 1 min I massarged the sand with my fingers. I could not believe the air trapped in my sand. Going easy here will take about 5-10 mins but you end up with air free sand and still my tank was pretty clear! Rule three, get the air out the tank but take your time. Beats waiting hours for it to clear afterwards.
I cant comment much on running a sand tank as I've only had one for 6 hours
But I'd say keep it simple. Keep your plastic/real plants in one tight area thus making it a simple job to syphon vac your sand each week. After all if your tank design means a weekly vac is loads of hassle you will not do it as often as you should, your human after all
I feel as poop has nowhere to sink into the sand will make for a great hospital/quarantine tank. Esp for me as typically this tank will be under stocked, so given the circumstances I'd say this is ideal in this case.
All thats left is a big thanks to those who's writings of their experiences have got me to do what seems is a great thing. My fish really do seem to like the sand!
So having a spare 60L tank I decided to setup a new quarantine and hospital tank. I figured with all this talk about how great sand tanks were I'd be damned if I were going to run 3 tanks and not have this new 3rd tank as sand
So I've got tank 3 setup with the ichy fish as per my signature. My community tank got a half douse of ich meds and the hospital tank has a full douse of ich meds.
So my experience with sand? well here is what I found, hope it helps someone. Using some established filter media I've got a sand tank up and running inside of 3 hours.
1. Based on what people have said re various sands, buying aquarium sand has to be worth every penny! Its selected I guess owing to its grain and is clean to start with. I did give it a clean tho, put it in a large bucket and ran the hose in it stiring it up. At first I thought all I'm doing is flushing away my sand. But having thought about it I was simply flushing the dusty stuff out that you inevitably get with all sand. And true, in about 5 mins the water overflowing the bucket was clear. Rule one, WASH THE SAND
2. Ok so I got a bucket of drained but soggy sand. When putting it in the tank use a kids play spade or just your hands. Being in a rush I started tipping the bucket in. Ok, its sand, you'll tip and shake the bucket and the damn stuff wont budge an inch till WHOLLOP half of it hits the bottom of your tank! its wet its very heavy and I was lucky to still have a tank! Rule two, spoon the sand over with hands or small plastic spade!
3. I cant stipulate how handy it is to put a dinner plate on your sand then gently fill your tank by tipping the water onto the plate. The plate directs the force of the falling water upwards so no sand storms for my tank. I ended up with a tank full of clear water.
4. Get the air out of your sand, there WILL be air. Instead of whipping my sand up to get the job done in 1 min I massarged the sand with my fingers. I could not believe the air trapped in my sand. Going easy here will take about 5-10 mins but you end up with air free sand and still my tank was pretty clear! Rule three, get the air out the tank but take your time. Beats waiting hours for it to clear afterwards.
I cant comment much on running a sand tank as I've only had one for 6 hours
But I'd say keep it simple. Keep your plastic/real plants in one tight area thus making it a simple job to syphon vac your sand each week. After all if your tank design means a weekly vac is loads of hassle you will not do it as often as you should, your human after all I feel as poop has nowhere to sink into the sand will make for a great hospital/quarantine tank. Esp for me as typically this tank will be under stocked, so given the circumstances I'd say this is ideal in this case.
All thats left is a big thanks to those who's writings of their experiences have got me to do what seems is a great thing. My fish really do seem to like the sand!
