Sand

[GuppyDude]

Hey, i dont know about salt water fish but tropical fish poop....alot. and sand makes it all stand out. how do people keep it so clean? im haveing a real hard time with it in my guppy tank and iv about had it my filter is a wisperer 5-10g in a 10g tank. its alredy blowing around my fish, i dont see how a bigger filter would work in there can someone help, any advice?

 

[Grim Reaper]

i think sand is better then gravel because the sand dont let the poo go under and its stay on the top so its easy to vacum whiles the gravel lets the poo got under which is a b**** to clean... all tho i gave sand and gravel set-up i like the sand one because its easy to clean

 

[lizard]

Hey, i dont know about salt water fish but tropical fish poop....alot. and sand makes it all stand out. how do people keep it so clean? im haveing a real hard time with it in my guppy tank and iv about had it my filter is a wisperer 5-10g in a 10g tank. its alredy blowing around my fish, i dont see how a bigger filter would work in there can someone help, any advice?

Hmmm...what color sand do you have? I rarely see fishy poo on my sand. Is your tank filled all the way? Do you have fry in there or adults? Your tank shouldn't need a bigger filter. I run a Whisper 10 HOB filter on my ten gallon. It does have a bit of current, especially if the tank isn't filled all the way.

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[GuppyDude]

the sand is white, currently i have no plants, im going to gte some. there are my 1 adult male guppy, my male guppy fry/adult kinda, and a female guppy. i also ahve a pleco in there, he contributes to alot of it it is easy to clean but every day?

 

[Sorrell]

I seriously was going to post this same thing I love how my sand tanks look when I have done a recent water change, but two days later I want to throw a towel over it I hate those tanks, hate hate hate them. After a couple days they look like they have a poop substrate My tanks are understocked, overfiltered and regualer water changes too. Can't stand it

 

[enchanted]

My guess would be the sand you are using. As you said "white". I use playsand and never see any poop in the tank, although I do see it on my rocks.

 

[CFC]

Id rather have the poo where i can see it and remove it all easily than have it sink into the substrate and build up until it causes water quality issues. A quick vacume every other day straining the water through a fine meshed net or seive lined with filter floss so that the poo is caught and the water can be returned does the trick in keeping my substrates clear of poo.

 

[JustinSane]

Do you shuffle your sand at times? Like stir it up a bit every now and then?
You should. Regular sand packs pretty tight over time and might become blocked up ie. there isn't enough oxygen in the substrate. This is a bad thing because it offers a growth environment for bacteria which are able to reduce nitrate back to nitrite, ammounium and nitrogen gas which are all poisonous to fish on high consentrations.
Now that I got you all worked up, I'll have to comfort you that this is not a problem if you:
A ) Shuffle the sand every now and then
B ) Get yourself a few Malysian trumpet snails which live under the sand, digging around blending the sand, keeping it properly oxygenated. (yeah, and they eat fish poo too B) )

edit: fixed a few words

 

[CFC]

This is a bad thing because it offers a growth environment for the de-nitrifying bacteria which is pretty bad since they are able to reduce nitrate back to nitrite and ammonia which are poisonous to fish on high consentrations.

Anerobic bacteria does not convert nitrate to nitrite and then ammonia and in controled conditions anerobic bacteria can be utilised to remove nitrates from the aquarium without water changes or plants. De nitrification takes place as the anerobic bacteria which is starved of oxygen scavenges the oxygen from nitrate ( O3 from N03) leaving nitrogen gas (N) which dissolves into the atmosphere. Unfortunately nitrogen is a poison in higher concentrations and when fish disturb pockets of nitrogen gas in the substrate the effects are almost instantly fatal to the fish and contact and those nearby.

 

[Ben]

i just siphon it out when ever i see it,
so its about a 5 gal water changes a day, which i think is fine

 

[turbotiber]

I have sand in one of my betta tanks but the tank has no filter. When I do partial/100% WC I just suck the poop out with a straw since I don't have a baster and I can't find one... I cover the straw and stick it in the water right over the poopie and then let air in the straw and cover again and voila! Poop gets sucked up! It's a lot better cause I can actually see the poop which beats it getting in between the gravel.

 

[Gill]

I Much prefer Sand, Its easier tio clean and a Long Baster is brilliant for sucking up any large Pl*co Poop. Its also nicer for the Bottom Dwellers and Sand Dwellers.

 

[JustinSane]

Anerobic bacteria does not convert nitrate to nitrite and then ammonia and in controled conditions anerobic bacteria can be utilised to remove nitrates from the aquarium without water changes or plants.  De nitrification takes place as the anerobic bacteria which is starved of oxygen scavenges the oxygen from nitrate ( O3 from N03) leaving nitrogen gas (N) which dissolves into the atmosphere.  Unfortunately nitrogen is a poison in higher concentrations and when fish disturb pockets of nitrogen gas in the substrate the effects are almost instantly fatal to the fish and contact and those nearby.

Well first of all O3 is ozone and N is nitrogen, N2 is nitrogen gas, that much I know, even though I'm not a chemist
But, I suppose I was being a bit unclear there myself, and surely, I took a few a shortcuts, but the main thing is; stir your sand
Denitrification is an important process in nature, but unfortunately, nearly impossible to simulate in such restricted conditions as an aquarium.
The whole circulation of nitrogen in nature is an immense and complex process that would take a lot of text to describe completely (if even possible)

The processes do go like this (taking a few shortcuts again )

Denitrification:
(nitrate) NO3- -> NO2 -> NO -> N2O -> OR -> N2 (nitrogen gas)

Ammonification (as an opposite for nitrification): NO3- -> NO2 -> NH4+ (ammonium)

Do they not?

But anyway my advice is: stir your sand for now, until we can figure out a way to carry out the nitrogen cycle as a whole, I'm quite sure you don't want those nasty gas pockets under your sand

 

[daddyo72]

My tanks are over filtered with a power head hidden in some plants to stir any crap up and it then drifts to a filter, no more problem.

 

[smithrc]

we use a battery operated vac to suck the poop off the bottom.

it dosnt involve a waterchange and only takes 5 mins.

we also point the filter outputs in certain directions to hide the poop from view, we then clean the hidey holes