Sand?

[Carina]

i wanted white sand for my fish tank and went looking for it today......speaking to a fish shop person he said he doesnt reccomend it because you have to turn the sand once or twice a week and if you dont under any ornaments or rocks a black slime appears and it can pollute your fish tank and kill everything. is he right?

would i be better sticking to my fine gravel?

thanks

 

[i_ganjaman]

i wanted white sand for my fish tank and went looking for it today......speaking to a fish shop person he said he doesnt reccomend it because you have to turn the sand once or twice a week and if you dont under any ornaments or rocks a black slime appears and it can pollute your fish tank and kill everything. is he right?

would i be better sticking to my fine gravel?

thanks

all you got to do is run your fingers through the sand when you do a water change,to stop it compacting..

 

[MoMa]

I use chopsticks to swirl around a bit of the sand. The only real problem I've has switching to sand is that now I want to do it in all my tanks!!!

 

[SugarQube]

Glad I chose sand, with help from this forum I bought 2 Horseface Loach which help turn the sand over. I wouldn't use gravel now. (I used Argos playsand)

 

[cichlid-mad]

how long does sand last as i no that it disolves arfter a while

 

[cleekdaFish]

I have sand now and my fish luv it! I just use my fat fingers to rake the sand once a week when i change my water or u can get some loaches or cories to help u with the turning of ur sand

 

[nmonks]

Silica sand (silver sand), the type best used in freshwater aquaria, will eventually dissolve, but it'll take around 50 million years. So not really a problem in most aquaria!

Cheers,

Neale

How long does sand last as I know that it dissolves after a while

 

[cichlid-mad]

so i wont need to buy a few more bags incase the sand disolves

 

[DarkEntity]

For my next two tanks ill be using sand, wish id used sand in my 125.

 

[tyron]

when i first put sand in..

should i put water in then the sand or put the sand in then fill the tank up?

 

[i_ganjaman]

Silica sand (silver sand), the type best used in freshwater aquaria, will eventually dissolve, but it'll take around 50 million years. So not really a problem in most aquaria!

Cheers,

Neale

How long does sand last as I know that it dissolves after a while

L.O.L another 50 million years and fish wont need tanks probably have legs and we be keeping em on leads or perhaps we will be their pets.... L.O.L

 

[nmonks]

So I won't need to buy a few more bags incase the sand disolves?

That would be correct.

when i first put sand in... should i put water in then the sand or put the sand in then fill the tank up?

Ideally, empty the tank, and put the fish in big buckets. If you can, leave the filters running in the buckets to keep the bacteria happy. Otherwise, open up the filters and put the media in something like a bucket where they can be covered in water. If left cooped up in a canister filter, the filter bacteria use up the oxygen and start to die.

When the tank is empty, arrange the sand to a depth of 1-2 cm (assuming you aren't using plants). This is a perfectly safe depth, and the catfish and loaches will stop the sand compacting and going bad. A few Malayan livebearing snails will help, too. Put the water in carefully, by placing a plate or bowl on the sand and pouring the water onto that. While it will splash more, there'll be less energy to move the sand about, which is good.

Fill the tank up, put the filter back, arrange rocks and whatnot, and then put the fish in. Any residual silt can be removed by using clean filter wool in one of the filters.

Cheers,

Neale

PS. There's a pinned topic here:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=131373

 

[cichlid-mad]

How do u put live plants with the sand?

 

[nmonks]

Please read the pinned topic. All will be revealed!

If that's too much hassle, simple use non-rooting species such as Anubias, Java fern, Java moss, hornwort, etc.

Cheers,

Neale

How do u put live plants with the sand?