Thinking of changing your betta to sand?

[OohFeeshy]

Well, I changed my 4.5 gallon to sand today. Guess how long it took? 45 minutes. That was to wash the sand, take out all the water in the tank, take out the gravel, put the sand in, put the water in, put the plastic plants and deco in and get everything running again. And it looks great! I will be getting real plants soon. All it took for the tank was one measuring jug full of sand. So don't sit there thinking about it! Do it!

 

[Raechal]

Can you imagine doing that with a 120 gallon (just rinsing the sand)?! It took me like 3-4 hours. Still worth it though. All the poo collects in one area mainly and it is very easy to just vacuum out in like 5 minutes.

Thinking about changing the gravel in the 29 gallon tank to sand as my brother wants to have his own cory colony!

 

[rdd1952]

If you want sand that is easy to clean and looks great, try the black Tahitian Moon sand. It is expensive but you can probably get it online for $14 to $15 per 20 lb bag. It only takes about 5 to 10 minutes to wash a 20 lb bag and once you put it in the tank, it creates no cloud. I just planted 50 plants last week and didn't have even the slightest hint of cloudyness. I don't think I will ever use anything else. And the green plants against the black sand looks great. The tank is amost finished cycling. I can't wait to see the corys against the black sand.

 

[GSD]

any pics

 

[rdd1952]

I haven't taken any yet but will as soon as I get home tonight. Actually the moon sand is on top of the Eco Complete Planted substrate (I couldn't find enough of it and got the moon sand as a substitute). Both are black and I'm sure the sand will eventually filter down through the larger Eco Complete but they both look good. The Eco Complete is also simple. It is vacuum sealed with bacteria in the substrate. You just open the bag and pour it in, no washing at all. There's a debate on whether the bacteria is any good or not but I wanted it for the plant nutrients not the bacteria. That was just an added bonus if it helped with cycling.

 

[OohFeeshy]

The sand only took about 15 mins to wash anyhow. Most of the time was spent thinking 'Was this really a good idea?' and trying to work out a way to take all the gravel out. I wish it had taken longer, I only did it as a spur of the moment 'I'm sooo bored' thing. I've put a load of shells in there too- I know they'll break down eventually but they'll be out before then.

 

[ManyFISH4Me]

Toys r us sells 50lb bags of sand for like $5.

 

[rdd1952]

The only problem with the play sand that Toys R Us and places like Lowes or Home Depot sells is that it takes forever to wash it if you are doing a larger tank. I hate to think of how long it would have taken me to wash what it would have taken (120 lb) to fill up the 75 gallon.

 

[Haiku]

How exactly do you wash the sand? I thought about getting sand but figured I better start out with something I knew how to care for first. Can you use a gravel vacuum to clean it? Can you run a filter with it at all?

 

[rdd1952]

I found that the easiest way for me is to do small quantities in a 5 gallon bucket. Put 3 to 5 inches in the bucket and turn your hose on full blast. I don't use a spray nozzle. I stick the end of the hose down in the bucket and into the sand and basically use the end of the hose to stir the sand and keep it moving. As the bucket gets full and starts to run over, I pour off the water and then repeat. Play sand has a lot of powder/dust in it so it takes numerous times to get the water to run clear. Some people use a new trash can and do larger amounts. I don't know what they stir with to keep it moving.

 

[rdd1952]

I promised pics yesterday and forgot. There not the best pics but you can get an idea of how it looks. Here they are:


http/i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/rdd1952/Tank1.jpg
http/i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/rdd1952/Tank2.jpg
http/i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/rdd1952/Tank4.jpg

 

[BettasRFriends]

rdd1952, Very . Are those live plants or plastic? Either way, they look great!

 

[rdd1952]

Thanks very much. They're all live plants. I can't wait till they grow in and hide the back of the tank. I love a planted tank. I also have a piece of driftwood that just arrived today. I want ot soak it a whilebefore i put it in just to make sure it isn't going to leech out.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Heres mine. Not a brill pic, but you get the gist. Ignore the sparkles.....