Sand

[Josiah]

Okay for all of my fish keeping life(2 or 3 years) I have used gravel, but I'm about to do a planted tank, and I was thinking about using sand, however I have some questions first. How do I clean the sand? What kind of sand do you recommend?(The only places I can get sand from are Petco, and Petsmart, well the only fish places). I will be using HOB filters. Please help me.

 

[orange shark]

clean sand using a gravel vac, and you can use play sand, silica sand, silver sand, and others which i forget!

 

[goldencomet]

When you clean the sand take the big nozzle bit off the siphon so it's just a pipe then hover it above the sand and crap

 

[mark.w.jones]

If you search there are loads of articles on this:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=71597

is from the pinned articles at the top of this forum, well worth reading all the others if you have time. Go with children's play sand as it is dead cheap and available from most DIY and large children's toy stores.

 

[JamieBailie]

Rinse the sand, Then rinse the sand, Then rinse the sand, Then rinse it again, After you've done that, rinse the sand.

Can take up to an hour to do this properly. I normally put some sand in a bucket, go outside and turn the hose on full power, point the hose in the bucket, swirl it around. Pour the water out, Repeat until the water is crystal clear, then do it a few more times. Then put that sand in your tank and pour some more sand into the bucket and repeat the process untill there is no sand left to clean.

 

[darknirvana217]

Check out this website and its products www.liveaquaira.com, its drs. foster and smith. This place sells a lot of different supplies and at great prices too. i use a product called eco-complete for my planted tank.

 

[pandacichlid]

I was thinking about using sand in my auarium, cus gravel doesn't look v.attractive

 

[Josiah]

Do you suggest putting the sand in the tank with water already in it or before? Sorry about not seeing the pinned articles, but I guess my tired eyes missed them . How many lbs of sand do you think I will need for a 36"X 15"X 16"?

 

[syntax_error]

Do you suggest putting the sand in the tank with water already in it or before?

If you cleaned the sand well enough you can add it into a tank already filled with water. Or else (or even if your not sure) add 3/4 of water into the tank and then add sand. It'll help the sand settle faster.

How many lbs of sand do you think I will need for a 36"X 15"X 16"?

Use this - http/www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html

 

[Josiah]

Normal play sand from Lowe's ok to use in the tank? And I need to wait for the sand to settle before I turn the filter on right?

 

[znk]

Normal play sand from Lowe's ok to use in the tank? And I need to wait for the sand to settle before I turn the filter on right?

It will work but will take more cleaning.

Cleaning works best with small quantities at once. I use a rubermaid container 14"x10" 7" deep. I put ike 3 inches of sand in it and use my garden hose with the stongest jet possible. It creates alot of turbulence and all the sand is floating arround in the water. When the water is dirty enough I remove most of it and repeat 2-3 times. I did that with my two 75 gal tanks. When I got some new rocks I even switched the substrate in one of the tanks during a water change with all the fish in it. Water didnt get couldy at all. I washed the sand before starting all of this.

So here is the before



And two hours later.

 

[kalihat]

would those of you with sand say it is cleaner and easier than gravel?

 

[Applerust]

would those of you with sand say it is cleaner and easier than gravel?

I know someone with sand in one of his tanks. He tells me its far harder to clean and actually looks dirty faster than gravel.

 

[znk]

would those of you with sand say it is cleaner and easier than gravel?

Personaly I'd never go back to gravel. Much easier to maintain as you just have to pickup the stuff that's on the surface. Just hover over it and suck it up. Actualy in the tank I posted just above dosent even have any visible poop because of the powerhead you see in the back. All the poop either ends up in the filters or in the rock formation. I just use the power head and direct it in the rocks while I'm doing my water change. I can then pickup the stuff. I do suck up a bit of sand with my python but at $3 for a 50lbs bag I can definelty afford to lose a few tablespoons worth at every water change.