sand

[ger87410]

I'm thinking about changing my substrate from gravel to sand. How do you clean sand? Can I just use my gravel vac?

 

[rarefish]

Most likely the vacume would suck up the sand. I would try getting snails or glass shrimp(all freshwater inverts/or if you have salt saltwater shrimp). Even though they couldn't get all of the waste, they would help a lot! I like snails because they are very good at cleaning. You might also take the sand out monthly for a good ckeaning, just like gravel. I hope this helps a little!

rarefish

 

[tstenback]

i use the gravel vac but just skim the surface of the sand dont push it into the sand. I put the end low enough so that the stuff on the bottom gets sucked up but not the sand. It takes a couple tries to get it right but after that you wont have any problem and wont loose much sand. HTH

 

[Teelie]

Sand cleaning isn't hard. All the stuff collects on the surface of the sand so it'll be right there. You just need to learn how close you can get to sucking the crap up without the sand. It's a little tricky at first but you can learn it quickly.

 

[ger87410]

Really? It's that easy? Everything really does collect at the top of the sand? It's a Freshwater setup and I plan on getting a lot of snails. Do crayfish help? How about lobster? I plan on getting a blue florida crayfish/lobster.

 

[Teelie]

The way it works is sand grains are almost always smaller than the fish waste (and smaller things always "boost" larger things above them) and it packs down better than gravel so the stuff never slips under the sand like it can between cracks in gravel or other larger substrate so it collects on top.

Some of it may get trapped under the sand if you have bottom dwellers but at the same time they'll also dig it up so it works out fairly well that nearly all of it is on the surface.

Crayfish can help some though I've never kept any or heard of how well they maintain sand. Snails, depending on the species, are great for sand. Malaysian Trumpets dig through sand, keeping it loose and aerated and eat some of the waste (depending on what there is) and other snails will eat other kinds of waste. Shrimp also help clean up some kinds of waste.

The only downside with Crays are they can be predatorial and go after small fish, especially those that sleep on the substrate at night.

 

[ger87410]

Thanks for the great replies! I changed my mind on the snails. I'm going to put clown loaches in there. What else is good at digging up the sand? Crayfish dig into the sand. The crayfish I wanna get is a Procambarus alleni, probably. I don't know which crayfish/lobster to get. Anyone have any suggestions? It'll go in the tank with a red zebra and 3 clown loaches.

 

[Teelie]

Not sure a crayfish is a good idea with Clowns. those like to sleep on the bottom and on their sides so they may be perfect prey for a Crayfish.

 

[ger87410]

Thnks for all the great help guys. I was thinking the same thing about the crayfish. I gotta switch topics so I need to start a new thread about what is compatible with crayfish. Thanx again guys!