sand

[Jen]

I'm thinking of changing around my tank... going more natural. Right now I use small gravel in browns and beiges, but I have been thinking of going the sand subtrate route.

How do you go about cleaning it... syphoning and whatnot.

Have you had good experiences with it, or bad. Anything you can tell me is muchly appreciated

 

[tdins_2]

well i would go with a mix with mostly sand and some of yuor gravel scattered around ..it is relatively easy to claean just once a week run chop sticks anround the sand to let the gas buildups out and stir the junk around and every so often syphon the crap off the to by holding the syphon hose about an inch above the sand it should pick up most of the junk...i am somewhat new with sand but i havent had any bad experiences with it and my fish seem to like it 8)

 

[iloveyou]

ya buy the sand right? u dont jus grab some from the beach do ya lol

 

[tdins_2]

i bought my sand and there is a wide variety of sands to buy that will suit ur tank...i wouldn't get sand from the beech who know what chemicals r in there

 

[copeina]

Use sterilised playground sand from your local hardware store. Locally it runs about $3.50 for 50#. Cheap like borsch!

/Kris

 

[Jen]

when setting it up... go you do it the same as gravel... 1 and a half - 2 inches at the back and 1 inch at the front? something like that?

 

[Bol]

Generally, you'd want it about the same thickness as gravel would be.

But personally, I'd go a little thicker than 1" in the front.

You'd probably want extra thickness (3-4" total), too, if you plan on having live plants with large root systems.

 

[Jen]

next question... how do you go about cleaning? same as gravel?

 

[tdins_2]

look at my earlier post that how u go about kleening it

 

[bartender_in_ny]

i lke the sand idea too, thinking lol umm does it goof up your filter parts inside? as in sucking it in impellor? i have a penguin 330 bio wheel in proces of setting up a 55gallon..also? whats the lb. (pound) rule of thumb for sand per gallon? i use 25lbs of med size pea gravel for my 20 gallon long that gave me a lil over 3" of coverage 4" in some spots..if i went with gravel in the 55 i would grab like prob 60 lbs..and (i know i have to read the garden thread) but do live plants jsut grow in sand if u plant them? i like platic plants myself but may ad a few live.....plxadvise its agreatly appreciated!!!

 

[Max]

im thinking about sand too but how what do i do with my fish while the sand settles?

 

[sunbot]

yeah good question dragon4life plz answer his qeustion 4 me and him.

 

[Captain Canuck]

im thinking about sand too but how what do i do with my fish while the sand settles?

Wash the sand that you buy really well and you don't have to worry about it settling. When I converted my tank to sand, it took under half an hour for the water to look 100% clear. During that time I had my fish bagged in old tank water and waiting nearby for their tank renovations to be completed.

 

[Max]

got it... and i take the water out then put it back in or just pour it in with the water?

 

[DOLORES]

and what about when you clean the tank ??? how do you do it with the sand?! im askink becuz im interested on buy another tank and do it with sand instead of gravel thank u very much