Sand

[crimsonxflamex3]

Does anyone have sand in the bottom of their tanks? I have a friend who has a tank with a sand bottom and it looks really nice. I've been thinking about using it for a community tank, or a tank of girls. The only thing is, I'm not sure how you would go about cleaning the tank without getting things messed up and icky. Any suggestions? Such as how to clean a tank with sand. Or do you think I should stick with gravel? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[SoCalMom]

I don't use sand so I might not be helpful...lol

Anyway, I wouldn't use sand cause it does look like it would be a pain. Gravel is easy to clean and put in/take out

 

[invader]

Does anyone have sand in the bottom of their tanks? I have a friend who has a tank with a sand bottom and it looks really nice. I've been thinking about using it for a community tank, or a tank of girls. The only thing is, I'm not sure how you would go about cleaning the tank without getting things messed up and icky. Any suggestions? Such as how to clean a tank with sand. Or do you think I should stick with gravel? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

All of my betta boys and two of my community tanks have sand in them. It's not hard at all to clean. All you need to do is vaccuum the top of the sand, because the poop, etc, will be sitting on top, instead of sinking down like in gravel. You should also move the sand around, so it doesn't get compacted and form noxious gasses beneath. Personally, I have had these gasses exist, but they are released when the sand is moved with no harm to the fish. I think if they are left too long, it isn't good, but I have never had a problem.

With betta tanks that are 5gls or less, I would just rinse the sand while moving it around to get all of the junk out of the sand and then just pour the water it. It's really easy once you get the hang of it and it looks 100x better!

Good luck!

EDIT: Check out this link!

 

[K.J.]

Just vac all the poo up, my betta tank has sand in it and it looks so lovely. Plus it's easy to tell when you need to gravel vac more, which is a PITA in gravel tanks.

 

[connorsbala]

I have sand in my axolotl tank. Do a water change once a week still, hovering the vac above the sand and not putting it in. I use a turkey baster everyday to get some of the crap up thats sitting on the sand