Sand For Fish Tanks

[hunter001]

Im using the B&Q sand in my tank at the moment and find it fine to use although i noticed instore there were 2 different brands of playsand. I actually prefer the B&Q sand being a bit darker, i guess its just personal preference.

 

[guppy love]

I'm actually just in the middle of putting togther a new tank with Argos play sand today and it looks nice, really bright and clean. Just got the sand and 1 plant in, fitted the first filter and now having a quick rest and a cuppa as I am soaked and exhausted, there's water all over the kitchen floor and sand everywhere - my cat got her paws in the bag of sand and scooped and flicked it all around the kitchen. I hope my corys appreciate everything I do for them!

 

[weezawoo]

I'm actually just in the middle of putting togther a new tank with Argos play sand today and it looks nice, really bright and clean. Just got the sand and 1 plant in, fitted the first filter and now having a quick rest and a cuppa as I am soaked and exhausted, there's water all over the kitchen floor and sand everywhere - my cat got her paws in the bag of sand and scooped and flicked it all around the kitchen. I hope my corys appreciate everything I do for them!

Haha sounds like great fun! I have decided to go with the argos play sand as everyone does seem happy with it. It will be ok to use the stuff I have in my current tank and then 1 new bag right?!?!?
The main reason I used sand is for my Corys, love them

 

[Uriel]

+1 for argos play sand. Although i would really love a tank with the black tahita moon sand but at £16 for 20lb it just wasn't viable for my tanks.

 

[weezawoo]

+1 for argos play sand. Although i would really love a tank with the black tahita moon sand but at £16 for 20lb it just wasn't viable for my tanks.

Yea me too but no way do I have enough money to fill a 5ft tank with it!

 

[JoshuaA]

I'm actually just in the middle of putting togther a new tank with Argos play sand today and it looks nice, really bright and clean. Just got the sand and 1 plant in, fitted the first filter and now having a quick rest and a cuppa as I am soaked and exhausted, there's water all over the kitchen floor and sand everywhere - my cat got her paws in the bag of sand and scooped and flicked it all around the kitchen. I hope my corys appreciate everything I do for them!

Haha sounds like great fun! I have decided to go with the argos play sand as everyone does seem happy with it. It will be ok to use the stuff I have in my current tank and then 1 new bag right?!?!?
The main reason I used sand is for my Corys, love them

You're asking if you can just add the argos sand on top of the sand you already have in the tank?

Sure, make sure you wash it beforehand. Also this is very important... warm your sand up with warm water first and let it soak for a while sand can take a lot of heat out of your water and you can experience quite large temperature drops if the sand is too cold. So simply after cleaning the sand just run the hot water tap on it for a while and leave it to cool down to a reasonable temperature then place it in.

Finally turn your filter off if you are putting it in on top, it's almost impossible to accurately place it never mind with a filter causing massive currents.

 

[moochy13]

i used a tupperware lunchbox and lid to put sand in a filled tank. means you can get the sand to the bottom of the tank and turn the tub upside down without sand going everywhere.

 

[weezawoo]

It is going in a new tank not adding to a current tank so its ok
Just checking it was ok to mix new and old sand together in the new sand, just gotta get it out the old tank first!

 

[raptorrex]

Also specifically under and around any bog wood that was placed on the sand the sand would go black and underneath that black bit would be pockets of gas, fortunately I never had any deaths and once it got a bit too much I decided to empty the tank of the sand. Even after a few months they would still form, I had Corys and Snails who would supposedly shift the sand around but the only shave the top 1mm around but don't actually dig down.

On a non planted tank I would say it's much easier to manage if you have that problem as you don't end up sucking up all the roots and shifting the plants each time you come for a water change.

I wouldn't worry about the gas build up, though the black is a problem for look only. the gas is harmless to your fish. though as you say it does pong a bit.

 

[guppy love]

I've somewhat finished my Argos play sand tank, this is what it looks like:




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[JoshuaA]

Either the tank is small or those moss balls are HUUUOOOOOOOGGEEEE

 

[guppy love]

They do look rather large in that picture but don't seem as big close up. They're about the size of juggling balls right now, although they were sold as 'small' when I got them. The tank is 2ft, I hope they don't outgrow it!

 

[weezawoo]

Tank looks great Guppy Love!
Sadly couldn't get my tank this weekend gone as I wanted to but am hopeul I can pick it up this coming weekend and start on getting it all sorted