Some Sand Care Questions

[cowgirluntamed]

Ok, just got my 20 gallon switched over to playsand!!! Thanks Byron for the tip on only cleaning 6 cups at a time. Worked wonders! Only a little cloudly when I poured the first bucket of water in as I poured it directly on top of the sand. After I put a plate in it was awesome.

Here's a picture of the tank.




One question I have, is do I need to poke around in it every now and then to release any build up of gas since I don't have many plants in it? Eventually I want to upgrade my lighting so it can handle plants as this one won't grow them well. My water sprite may not make it and the java fern is still small after being in there for months. The anubias plants are awesome at least.

I'm hoping I cured my pest pond snails issue by breaking this down and soaking things in salt and plants in alum for a while. And changing from gravel to sand. If the fish don't look pale in the morning I'll try to get pictures with them in it. They got stressed being moved to buckets. And I hope I don't have the tank crash on me as I soaked the biological media in salt solution too. I'll be checking water parameters daily for a while.

And if there are any other tips you may have for care on a sand substrate tank please let me know! (The anubias plants are planted, but only the roots, not the rhizome, if anybody wondered. Lol.) Thanks for any tips!

 

[gmc1]

Yes your sand will need stirred.a lot of people use Malaysian trumpet snails for this.including myself.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

How often will it need to be stirred? I just broke the tank down to get rid of snails....lol. Pond/bladder snails though. Whether I truly did or not, only time will tell. Though, if I was to have an invasion I wish it would have been the MTS! Other than nerite snails, that would be the only one I could see having in the tank. If the tank is planted in the future, would it still need to be stirred or do the plants take care of that? I do also plan on having cory cats in the future in this tank. Do they help at all with that?

 

[gmc1]

Yeah between the corys and the mts you will be fine.i hardly see my mts during day but at night they are everywhere.i keep nerites too.they are excellent cleaners.
Depends really what grain of sand you have.you can't go wrong giving it a slight stir/poke on water change day.

 

[Byron]

I tend to leave my substrates alone (I have play sand in seven tanks), but it depends upon the tank.  I never touch the substrate in my largest tank (115g), whereas I run the vacuum end of the Python over the open sand areas in my other tanks, but this is not getting very deep, just meant to "shake up" the debris on the surface so it sucks up readily.  I second the Malaysian Livebearing Snails, and plants obviously if they are substrate-rooted.  There are undoubtedly dead spots under the rocks and chunks of wood but I never touch these.
 
Byron.

 

[Munroco]

Assasin snails also burrow

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Thanks guys. I'll definitely consider adding MTS some time in the future. Seems like even if there are dead spots those would be doing the job anyway underneath. And if it would keep those pesky pond snails gone...all the better. Now, are the MTS and nerites compatible? I planned on getting a nice group of nerites for the 20 gallon eventually as well once I place the current fish(including my bristlenose) in a bigger tank. I have two horned nerites now in my 10 gallon that will be getting broken down as well and used as a hospital tank later so the guppies are going to be going to a bigger tank too. But I figured my two horned nerites plus maybe adding some more to the 20 gallon would cover any algae issues good enough. If there are MTS, how many nerites could I have? (I'm thinking of the ones that are not the horned variety as well). I was thinking of them, maybe 10-15 neon tetras and 6 cory cats. Hopefully by then I'll have upgrading the lighting for it so I can have good plant growth as well as upgrading the HOB filter to a sunsun 302. Would 10 or 15 neon tetras be too many? I do want to have the 6 cory cats for sure.
 
And a side question....When I broke this tank down and cleaned it up good...I basically did a 100% water change. The black neons look ok, the glowlight tetras are a bit less colorful. I think this is due to the tannin loss. Are indian almond leaves good for adding more tannins so the fish look better? I didn't realize how MUCH was actually in the water. I guess for regular water changes I just dilute it down to where it "looked" clear to me, but obviously not! Lol. I still have driftwood in there so more tannins will probably show up anyway. But I was just asking since I'm going to be setting up a betta tank soon as well, and I was reading that those are beneficial?
 
Thanks for the help again! Love this place.

 
Oh, and one other quick question...Are Pristella Tetras compatible with black neon tetras, glowlight tetras, cory cats, bristlenose pleco, harlequin rasbora, cardinal tetras, and male guppies? I thought I had read somewhere that they can nip, but wasn't sure if this was the case or not. I hope to have all of these fish in my 55 gallon when I get it set up. Though I wouldn't add too many at first, I'd at least wait until I had really good plant growth in it. (basically I'd have 7 black neons, 10 glowlight tetras, 10 rasboras, 12 cory cats, 1 bristlenose pleco, and 6 male guppies for sure. The cardinals and pristellas I had thought to add later if the tank could handle that many as well as be compatible with the rest of the fish.)

 

[gmc1]

Nerites and Mts are fine together.

 

[Byron]

Oh, and one other quick question...Are Pristella Tetras compatible with black neon tetras, glowlight tetras, cory cats, bristlenose pleco, harlequin rasbora, cardinal tetras, and male guppies? I thought I had read somewhere that they can nip, but wasn't sure if this was the case or not. I hope to have all of these fish in my 55 gallon when I get it set up. Though I wouldn't add too many at first, I'd at least wait until I had really good plant growth in it. (basically I'd have 7 black neons, 10 glowlight tetras, 10 rasboras, 12 cory cats, 1 bristlenose pleco, and 6 male guppies for sure. The cardinals and pristellas I had thought to add later if the tank could handle that many as well as be compatible with the rest of the fish.)
 

 
What are the water parameters?  GH, pH and intended temperature?
 
I see no issues from a temperament perspective, but Pristella Tetra are more active than cardinal tetra, rasbora, etc.  But having said that, I have combined them in my 115g though this was not the best option for cardinals.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I just tested my 20 gallon yesterday after the 100% water change and these are the results.

pH- 8.2
Am- 0.25(its in my well water. But with the biomedia it goes down to 0)
Ni- 0
Na- 5
kH- 14
GH- 15

Intended temp would be around 75 or 76 I think? Usually have the 20 gallon at 77 but wasn't quite sure if this is optimum temp.

Also, the kh and gh both went up a point since the last time I tested in October *cough*. I have done water changes since then just haven't tested as much.

I know the tetras should be in softer water but this is all I have. Everything is stable though and the tetras I do have actually have shown breeding behavior. Would that be a sign they are OK in my water? Their colors are also better today as well and everybody seems pretty healthy. Haven't seen any issues except when I added non-quarantined fish.

Also, if the cardinals wouldn't do well with pristellas that's OK. I could choose one or the other. Just trying to find a good mix of different looking schooling fish to make it interesting but I want them to get along. Also, the place I was looking at online has tank raised cardinals if that makes any difference. Otherwise I probably won't go with them due to the hard water. More than likely would stress the wild caught ones out too much.

 

[Byron]

There are no issues with the mentioned species regarding temperament, and the 55g will be nice and roomy.  I would have the temperature around 76-77F, no warmer.  Cardinal tetras do "prefer" warmer but this is one of the issues when we have community tanks, finding the best for everyone.  And warming the tank for the cardinals will not be good for the Pristella and corys (depending upon species, a few are OK with warmer, but the majority are not).
 
I understand about the GH.  I would not advise wild-caught cardinals, as there is absolutely no way such could adapt, it just can't happen biologically.  Tank-raised fish is perhaps a different matter, and something I intend researching into more.
 
Byron.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Awesome Byron! Thanks! The three Cory species I am looking at is the peppered Cory, the metae Cory(or something similar like the false one), and the Schwartzi Leopard Cory. Two species would go into the 55 and one would go into the 20 later on when I'm done using the 20 as quarantine for the 55 lol.

Here is the link for the cardinals. Not sure if I can post it here but i'll give it a shot since its not a forum.

http/www.petsolutions.com/C/Live-Freshwater-Fish-Tetras-Rasboras/I/Cardinal-Tetra.aspx

 

[Byron]

Awesome Byron! Thanks! The three Cory species I am looking at is the peppered Cory, the metae Cory(or something similar like the false one), and the Schwartzi Leopard Cory. Two species would go into the 55 and one would go into the 20 later on when I'm done using the 20 as quarantine for the 55 lol.

Here is the link for the cardinals. Not sure if I can post it here but i'll give it a shot since its not a forum.

http/www.petsolutions.com/C/Live-Freshwater-Fish-Tetras-Rasboras/I/Cardinal-Tetra.aspx

 
That link is interesting.  They state that the cardinal tetra "requires excellent water quality" and "prefers softer water with very low hardness, with a pH as close to 7.0 as possible or even below 7."  They are saying that soft water, preferably acidic, is still best, though their tank-raised fish will be stronger.  But this does not mean better in harder water.
 
I'll pick up on this a bit more now.  A study several years ago in Germany found that the lifespan of the cardinal tetra in the aquarium was in direct proportion to the hardness of the water; the harder the water, the shorter the fish lived.  At death, with no external signs of what may have caused death, dissection revealed calcium blockage of the kidneys in every fish.  This is directly caused by the calcium in harder water that is removed from the water by the fish's kidneys.  I am sure this is going to be pertinent to most soft water fish.  Maintained in very soft acidic water, this fish can live more than 10 years; it rarely reaches close to this, and I am convinced that the GH of the water is primary.
 
There are those who maintain that after several generations of tank-raising fish in harder water, they somehow become adapted to it.  I am not convinced of this, at least not for every soft water species, which is what I intend to dig into given time.
 
Just a comment on the corys, get at least five of each species when you acquire them, or more.  These fish live in very large shoals, and species can be combined with no issues, but many will clearly do better with more of their own in the tank.  Sometimes for whatever reason I am unable to get five or six, and I have not seen any issues that I can trace back to the reduced numbers when they are all combined, but I have seen some species that clearly prefer their own company, so it is a good guide.
 
Byron.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I may or may not do cardinals. Haven't quite decided yet. As for the corys I plan on getting 6 of each. 2 species for the 55 gallon and the other for the 20. I'll more than likely order fish from that website. Would you recommend anything else besides the cardinals? I could always up the schools of the others, especially the glowlights. I think they are my favorite. Also, would 15 neons and 6 Cory's do good in the 20 gallon? I'd be adding nerite snails probably for the algae. It will eventually be more planted than the current picture(and the current fish will go to the 55).

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Would the rummynose tetra or the flame(von Rio) tetra be a good match for these fish I'm considering other than the cardinals? I like the look of t he rummynose quite a bit so would go with that if compatible. Otherwise the flame has nice colors when they are nice and healthy.