Was wondering about play sand?

[Ravenes]

Is their any preparation involved with play sand? I know I have to wash it but can I just put it in my tank without harming my fish or do I have to drain the entire tank?

 

[CassCats]

Rinse the living daylights out of it.
But otherwise nah its good to use.

May be easier to move the fish out while you replace the substrate though

 

[Ravenes]

Rinse the living daylights out of it.
But otherwise nah its good to use.

May be easier to move the fish out while you replace the substrate though

Ok, anyways was wondering about plants do they go well in sand?

 

[CassCats]

Yep!
Any plants like swords or crypts will need root tabs, but thats the same even with gravel. Just research what plants you like and see what care they may need, but any plant can be planted just fine in sand.

 

[Ravenes]

What are root tabs?

 

[Koglin]

What are root tabs?

They're like substrate fertilizer for plants, just use as directed and any plants that rely on a planted root system will benefit from the added nutrients to your sand. They last a long while too, few months or so if I remember right. I had dwarf hairgrass in sand that was just slow to grow until I popped in root tabs, now it's booming.

You can usually find API or Seachem root tabs at most pet stores, think they're usually ten bucks or so for a pack.

 

[Ravenes]

They're like substrate fertilizer for plants, just use as directed and any plants that rely on a planted root system will benefit from the added nutrients to your sand. They last a long while too, few months or so if I remember right. I had dwarf hairgrass in sand that was just slow to grow until I popped in root tabs, now it's booming.

You can usually find API or Seachem root tabs at most pet stores, think they're usually ten bucks or so for a pack.

Ok thx just wanted to know. I was also wondering does it matter how hard the water is? Do plants do well with naturally high hardness?

 

[Retired Viking]

I switched one of my tanks from gravel to sand and I am happy with it. I added extra plants like hornwort to protect against a spike in ammonia. I placed all my fish in a plastic bucket with aerator and covered the bucket with a dark towel (fish went to sleep) I removed everything from the tank and placed live plants in their own buckets. Then I removed the gravel, washed out the tank and added the sand. I use flourish root tabs for my rooted plants.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Ok thx just wanted to know. I was also wondering does it matter how hard the water is? Do plants do well with naturally high hardness?

Yes most plants do well in hard water as the minerals they require for growth are more abundant

 

[Koglin]

Ok thx just wanted to know. I was also wondering does it matter how hard the water is? Do plants do well with naturally high hardness?

Do you know your water parameters by chance? They'll be available on your water sources (or county) website if not.

Kind of depends on the plants though. Generally, plants thrive with certain minerals such as calcium and magnesium present in the water, but you can get those from a liquid fertilizer. You'll wanna watch your hardness for your fish needs first.

Might help to pick your plants based on your fish, and match the water needs that way.

 

[Ravenes]

What about if I had corydoras would they be safe?

 

[itiwhetu]

I would be careful if the sand has been crushed and is silica sand. It is like putting slithers of glass into your tank, naturally formed sand has rounded edges and there for I feel is a much better option.

 

[Guyb93]

I also plan on making the swap to sand but worried about loosing beneficial bacteria are you to expect a cycle or will the filter handle it

 

[AilyNC]

I switched to play sand last week from gravel. I didn't have a mini cycle luckily bit tested daily. My filter & driftwood/decorations must've had enough bacteria. It's made a hard he difference to the look of the tank.

I've less plants now as my plants couldn't get deep enough root in my gravel & wasted away. I've 2"/3" sand and the plants have better space to grow.

Another big advantage is I find sand much much easier to plant in. My OH says with sand it looks less like a giant fish toilet my water is 250ppm so hard.

 

[Ravenes]

So I was wondering do I have to remove my gravel? Could I just build on top of it?