White Sand

[craigieboy01]

Hi, Just been to lfs to get some white sand for my Fluval Edge thats in the process of cycling and would like to change from white gravel to white sand, although he didnt have any white sand he advised me not to get white sand as algae ends up forming like a mat over it, surely with once weekly water changes this wont happen? I seen the sand in a display and thought it looked really good. Cheers

 

[Truck]

Algae will only form if:

your tank has poor circulation
Has too much light in relation to CO2 if you're keeping plants
Has high levels of back ground undetectable ammonia
unstable levels of CO2

You can get white silica sand, If you wish to place it in whilst cycling cover the tank with a cloth to ensure no light enters or the sand will be plastered with algae due to high ammonia levels and light.

 

[craigieboy01]

Algae will only form if:

your tank has poor circulation
Has too much light in relation to CO2 if you're keeping plants
Has high levels of back ground undetectable ammonia
unstable levels of CO2

You can get white silica sand, If you wish to place it in whilst cycling cover the tank with a cloth to ensure no light enters or the sand will be plastered with algae due to high ammonia levels and light.

Think the circulation on the Fluval Edge is supposed to be very good, I will be keeping live plants when cycled so is about 6 hours with light on ok? I will cover the tank up when i get the sand tommorow. Thanks Truckasauras123

 

[Truck]

6 hours will be fine, make sure you only buy low light tolerative species aquatic plant, such as:

Anubias, Crypts, Microsorum etc.

 

[ajs2294]

Algae will only form if:

your tank has poor circulation
Has too much light in relation to CO2 if you're keeping plants
Has high levels of back ground undetectable ammonia
unstable levels of CO2

You can get white silica sand, If you wish to place it in whilst cycling cover the tank with a cloth to ensure no light enters or the sand will be plastered with algae due to high ammonia levels and light.

Think the circulation on the Fluval Edge is supposed to be very good, I will be keeping live plants when cycled so is about 6 hours with light on ok? I will cover the tank up when i get the sand tommorow. Thanks Truckasauras123

I'm not sure if you knew or not but if you read online about fluval edges and sand a lot of people have had problems adding sand to the tank and it damaging the filter/pump. You may want to look into it more.

 

[craigieboy01]

6 hours will be fine, make sure you only buy low light tolerative species aquatic plant, such as:

Anubias, Crypts, Microsorum etc.

Thanks truckasauras123 i will keep them in mind when i'm looking for plants.

Algae will only form if:

your tank has poor circulation
Has too much light in relation to CO2 if you're keeping plants
Has high levels of back ground undetectable ammonia
unstable levels of CO2

You can get white silica sand, If you wish to place it in whilst cycling cover the tank with a cloth to ensure no light enters or the sand will be plastered with algae due to high ammonia levels and light.

Think the circulation on the Fluval Edge is supposed to be very good, I will be keeping live plants when cycled so is about 6 hours with light on ok? I will cover the tank up when i get the sand tommorow. Thanks Truckasauras123

I'm not sure if you knew or not but if you read online about fluval edges and sand a lot of people have had problems adding sand to the tank and it damaging the filter/pump. You may want to look into it more.

Thanks for the advice about using sand with the Edge, i havent seen anything on this forum about it, maybe i have missed it tho, can you point me in the right direction about where i could find it? Cheers

 

[gazeddy]

this is going to go against the grain here. but i rarely do big water changes i just remove enough to get the phyiscal debris off my sandy tank floor but when i got an algae mat in there i just threw a few snails in there and left them to it for a few days with no light. after 3/4 days all the algae was gone and its been gone since

 

[craigieboy01]

I was told today by another lfs that sand would be totally fine as i have a protector sponge over the filter intake, it was initially on their to stop small fish being sucked up the filter, hopefully that will stop the sand getting into the filter. Defo still gonna be doing weekly 25% water change to keep the water in tiptop condition for the fish.

 

[ajs2294]

I was told today by another lfs that sand would be totally fine as i have a protector sponge over the filter intake, it was initially on their to stop small fish being sucked up the filter, hopefully that will stop the sand getting into the filter. Defo still gonna be doing weekly 25% water change to keep the water in tiptop condition for the fish.

Yeh, just make sure you turn off the pump when you add sand or do water changes and I'm sure you'll be fine. Good luck!

 

[craigieboy01]

I was told today by another lfs that sand would be totally fine as i have a protector sponge over the filter intake, it was initially on their to stop small fish being sucked up the filter, hopefully that will stop the sand getting into the filter. Defo still gonna be doing weekly 25% water change to keep the water in tiptop condition for the fish.

Yeh, just make sure you turn off the pump when you add sand or do water changes and I'm sure you'll be fine. Good luck!

Thanks ajs2294, will defo take on board all the tips i have had on the forum.

 

[ben3486]

craig...looks like were having very similar ideas on our edges lol....I have these thought that I want to post and low and behold you've all ready posted about it lol.... .... Im guessing the protector sponge over the filter intake is standard on the edge? cheers for the help mate lol and sorry for the Q's about the tank....mine hasnt turned up yet...should be here tomorrow ::..... a week late tho BOOO!!!

 

[craigieboy01]

craig...looks like were having very similar ideas on our edges lol....I have these thought that I want to post and low and behold you've all ready posted about it lol.... .... Im guessing the protector sponge over the filter intake is standard on the edge? cheers for the help mate lol and sorry for the Q's about the tank....mine hasnt turned up yet...should be here tomorrow ::..... a week late tho BOOO!!!

Hi ben3486, The sponge is bought seperately specifically for the Edge as it has a strong intake, I have the Burnt Orange model [The Mrs says it will go better with the decor in our spare room, lol] Its looking good now but cant wait to get my fish and plants in there, bit boring at the moment waiting on my Fishless Cycle.

 

[ben3486]

cool....how much was the sponge and where from?? Ive gone for pewter....like silvery i guess... think it will look good with some dark sand and some big bits of slate. hopefully can find some bright fish so they can "pop" haha. The mrs also thinks itll go better with the living room haha. we will have to keep an eye out for each others post and swap tips lol...all though at the min it seems a bit one way lol.

 

[craigieboy01]

cool....how much was the sponge and where from?? Ive gone for pewter....like silvery i guess... think it will look good with some dark sand and some big bits of slate. hopefully can find some bright fish so they can "pop" haha. The mrs also thinks itll go better with the living room haha. we will have to keep an eye out for each others post and swap tips lol...all though at the min it seems a bit one way lol.

Got the sponge from Petplanet Online company and it was only £3ish but i think most Lfs will sell them, I have gone for Pewter Roman Gravel too, it looks amazing!!!

 

[ben3486]

Got my tank today!!!! first thing after work went to pets at home (its the only place local I know of at the minute)and got me a heater (£16 for 25w), gravel (£3.99 for 2kg), and fake marimo balls (£7 for two small and one large.).... they look awesome. I wanted a dark sand but they didnt have any so I went with a natural, small gravel. Its majority slate colouring with a few white, brown and red stones in amongst it. I have to say for a second choice Im extremely happy. It looks like a proper river bed lol. Any way....havent got a water test kit yet...may have to wait for that as just got married and funds are low lol....didnt think id need much after getting the tank.....untill I found this site lol. But gonna cycle it for a while and maybe test the water when i can afford the kit.....need to get some junk on ebay lol. Oh and I got the pre filter sponge thing...it was £2.99 at pets at home lol.

As for the gravel......will it be easy to change over to a sand at a later date if I decide I have to have it?