sandy substrate????

[D.J.]

i guys. im new to the forum but have had fresh tans for about 10 years.

i have a question thou....

i wan to re-setup my 75 gal tank but im bored with gravel bottoms. what type of sand do i need for a freshwater tank?

ive been told...."playground sand", "#1 or #3 gravel sand", "pool pump sand"....


whats the BEST thing to use for color,filtering quality,planting, ad bottom dwellers???

and how to go about cleaning it? will a regular gravel cleaner "vac" work?

thanks guys
dj

[j_chicago]

I've used normal playsand from Ace hardware, for about $5 a 50# bag. Wash it out real well, otherwise the particles will stay suspended forever. didn't wash it once and had to do a 90% waterchange to clear it up.

Your normal gravel vac will work fine.

There's a video of a guy doing his cleaning technique. It was posted again last week, I'll link here when I find it.

[RichardA]

I have used play sand in the past......I now only use Pool Filter Sand.....grade #20 is what I use.

Clean as you would any small gravel.....just it sucks up easier into your hose....LOL

Also....the pool sand is pre-rinsed....:D

[j_chicago]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/cleaning_sand.php

Cleaning link as I mentioned

[jm1212]

i use pool filter sand. it is white, but not an unatural bleach white.

pool filter sand will not get stirred up as easily as play sand.

[D.J.]

thanks guys......

will my local pool store have this sand or where do i get it?

how do i "wash" sand? wouldnt it all just wash outa the bag and down the drain?

not sure wat im gona with it yet. it will go into my 75gal once im done with the restoration on it.

would the marine sand work? seen petco has a few different colors in it.....kinda like the black myself....

[LuxyBlue]

Pool filter sand is nice. I got mine at home depot for about $5 for 50 lbs. Lowe's had it as well. Its a neutral light tan color that I would call "sand". I love the black sand but it is very expensive. The local home improvement stores and walmarts here have Crayola colored play sand as well (pink, blue, purple, green etc) but I have not tried them. I didn't want those colors.

Oh, and I washed mine in a pillow case with the hose in the back yard. Worked pretty well.

[RichardA]

I tend to stay away from the colored playsands.....seems to me they are probably dyed that color.....

[D.J.]

we dont have a lowes or home depot here........we only have a menards.....have to call them and see what they got.....

[Bitsy]

My local Menards store has pool filter sand, as does the hot tub/pool store in town. I've been thinking about switching to sand but I'm waiting until I move and re-set up the 55g, it just seems like too much work to switch it right now! Good luck, post some pics for us when you get it up and running!

[D.J.]

its gona be a few months till i get it up and going....moneys a lil tight right now so cant really buy anything pricey for it just yet...

[D.J.]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/cleaning_sand.php

Cleaning link as I mentioned


THANKS FOR THAT VID...........thats not to bad as far as cleaning.....im deff gona go with a sand in my tank....i love the way it looks and its a lot better lookin than gravel.....IMO........

[seandelevan]

I have a question to add to this thread....

I changed to sand a few weeks ago. Looks great. Except when I do my water changes.

I change my water every Saturday. I do it very carefully like in that video. I make sure the filters are off. I put the water in very slowly.

But my water stays cloudy for the rest of the week. I miss the clear water I had with the gravel.

Any tips?

[D.J.]

i know i used to have a cloudy issue on water changes and mine was caused by temp differences......had to closely match the temp to get them to not cloud up...

is it just the sand being stired up in you tank? might could try a plate or something in there to pur over to disperse the water instead of a straight down stream.....