Sand instead of gravel

[FishBazzar]

How does sand work? How do you clean it? It seems to me that your vac would suck up the sand as well as trash because it is so light and fine.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Hiya
I recently started using river sand in my 50 and a 20 and I think it's GREAT! I wish I had it in my 29 but I don't know exactly how to go about switching

When your cleaning it for your tank, rinse, rinse and just when the water starts to run clear, rinse a 100 more times , but I have vacuumed it a couple of times and it's really awesome because all the waste stays on top of the sand so you don't have to vacuum to deep , also I've read that you should stir it every now & then to release bacteria

 

[mrV]

How does sand work?

Works great, bottom fishes love it!

How do you clean it?

First it must be rinse well. It's quite dirty, "dusty"...

It seems to me that your vac would suck up the sand as well as trash because it is so light and fine.

If the grain size about ~1,0mm, you don't even have to vacuum it. Im going to put into one of tank sand which is 0,1-0,6mm. In that tank, there is gravel and I hate it. Probably fishes too Other tanks have 0,6-1,5mm on bottom and I think grains are still too big, but im not going to replace them - too much work...

You can put some snails which live in bottom. They keep it "porous" and help that bottom doesn't become blocked.

 

[Whisper Odinsky]

so there is no problem with sand in freshwater tanks? this could be good...
i did not have a good experience with sand, beacause i didnot clean it well the first (and only time).. i lost a betta 3 days after i introduced sand.. If i were to boil the sand, my normal strainers don't work well - is there something specific i need..?

 

[jerenycool]

will ur filter suck it up my filter is strong it will pull a small sworttail toward it when it swims bye so i had to get ride of my swordtails. will the filer suck the sand up?

 

[wuvmybetta]

I cleaned mine by putting some in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket,I used the stream/power jet setting on the hose end and stirred with my hand, pour out the cloudy water & repeat,repeat repeat. I'll admit that cleaning the sand took FOREVER, I finally learned to clean a small amount at a time , then dump the clean sand into a clean bucket and again repeat with new dirty sand. I have powerheads & catfish in the big tank with sand and I was afraid it would be flying around everywhere all the time but to my surprise it doesn't

 

[smb]

Sand is so beautiful in a tank. I can't do it in my cichlid tanks but I'm going to get sand for my community tank.

 

[Whisper Odinsky]

thankyou sooo much for the cleaning tips.. I hope i can get ahold of some sand and try this on the new tank.

 

[wuvmybetta]

no problem

 

[Lateral Line]

My coment is in here!

 

[mrV]

You also find cheap sand from hardware store (Sand blasting)... But you must be sure it's sand, not any aluminium-silicate or something like that. So buy SAND nothing else!

 

[Poot]

I thought that you werent supposed to have sand in tanks, the guy at the LFS muttered about anerobic bacteria and how sand was not a good medium to grow plants in?

 

[aernympha]

i really want sand in my next tank but there is the problem of hold plants down but i reckon if there enuf o fit it wont be too bad and with a couple of stones !!!!

 

[smb]

I thought that you werent supposed to have sand in tanks, the guy at the LFS muttered about anerobic bacteria and how sand was not a good medium to grow plants in?

Read Lateral Lines post in this link he provided above. He explains it very well and it's based on his experience.

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9921

 

[gadazobe]

I have to agree with Poot. Sand is difficult to keep clean and there can be a problem with "dead spots" . Because it is so fine, sand tends to pack down and this can cause dead spots. If you do decide on sand, it's recommended not to have more than 1" depth and as already stated, it's not ideal (although not impossible) for plants. There is on the market, a very fine gravel that the plants and fish love. I have it in my community tank - the gobi dragons love it coz they can burrow into it, the cories and clowns love it coz it doesn't harm their barbels and the plants are thriving in it. It's heavy enough not to be sucked up when I clean and doesn't clog my filter. It is quite expensive but in my opinion it's worth every penny.