Totally starting over

[jdheff1982]

:confused:

Yo!! I have been thinking that it would be nice to completely redo my 37 gallon. I have been thinking about replacing the substrate with sand and replacing my 2 unhappy firemouths. So I was wondering....

#1> What colors of sand are usaully available at a hardware store??

#2> How long will I need to rinse the sand??

#3> I have a couple of fish in mind to replace the firemouths with a small type of loach and and some type of bottom to top dwelling fish that does good in small schools (not tetras! something little bigger!). I am looking for that kind of combo of fish; I'll consider any suggestions.

#4> A good FW cleaning crew??

Nothing else for the moment. All other suggestion will be helpful!! Thanks all!!

[firetank]

hey...

1) ivve heard you can get form fine silver yellow(play pit sand) thru orange(general building sand, which i have) to black...(pool filter sand??)

2)I replaced my substrate 2 weeks ago, a good trick off the guys here is to put it in a pillow case....i washed each "load" roughly 5 minutes...

3)how about some type of barb? tiger,cherry??

4)ive heard amano shrimp are good, and for sand substrate malaysian trumpet snails to till it over..

hth

[Serrateeth_2002]

They sell sand at a hardware store?I don't know much about sand but i can give a few suggestions on tankmates,loaches hide,you will seldomly see them school,barbs are good but they are shoalers,i prefer shrimps as cleaning crews to cories since cories don't clean food trapped in plants unlike shrimps but shrimps always leave behind empty shells
Here is the list-
8 tigers
a pair of kribs??
6 cories
3 or more shrimps

sounds too little,maybe you would prefer biotope ones
1 betta male,4 betta females
2 blue guorami


there are more choices though

[jdheff1982]

My local Lowe's has play sand. Will this work?? It is roughly $2 per 50 lbs.

[firetank]

it should...

test it with vinegar...

if it bubbles it has limestone(??) in it and may affect your ph, over time...

[jdheff1982]

As in raising or lowering?? My pH now is normally 7.8.

[firetank]

it raises ph........

http://www.tetra-fish.co.uk/nonflash/tropical/water_ql.html

[Tempest]

Hey Silver... The store called Fins and Feathers out on West St are using sand blasting sand in their tanks which really looks good. It's fairly coarse grained and would even be good for planted tanks too with a little laterite in the bottom layer. I'd think the sand blasting sand would be quite cheap.

[jdheff1982]

I went to Lowe's and bought their $2 play sand. I just finished putting in all the sand, after spending lots of time cleaning it thru a pillow case, and found out that the pH has started at 8.8!! Do you think this will drop over time or will I have to get something to drop the pH?? Please let me know!! Other than that, it looks really cool so far!!. BTW, once y'all were done with the pillow cases, what did you do with them?? I have sand all over mine.

Another thing, quick update on my krib fry, they are finally free swimming!! The parents have them out and they are eating!! I think I have anywhere between 30 to 40 fry!! I am so happy!!

[Serrateeth_2002]

Be prepared to get losses,a batch of fries usually gets some of the fries dying.

[jdheff1982]

I am prepared for the loss. Since this is my first experiance with fry, I decided that I'll let nature take its course this time. If the fry get eaten, well they get eaten. It happens in the wild and there is no need for my intervention. I think it is fasinating enough just watching them interact with each other and the parents. I have another pair f kribs that I think I will be expecting fry from soon. I haven't seen any eggs or wrigglers yet, but the female spends a lot of time in her lair! Maybe this weekend or early next week, I'll have fry from them too!!

BTW, back to my sand topic, will my pH go down after a bit or am I gonna have to fix it myself?? Another thing, I was wanting to buy a brand new filtration system for my 37 gallon since the switch and was wondering which canister system is best at bio and mechanical and will work with the sand alright?? Thanks!!

[jdheff1982]

Just tested pH again and with about 2 hours it went from 8.8 to 7.4!!! Amazing!!! Is this typical with sand???

[NJ Devils Fan]

For a cleaning crew, I'd go with about 4-5 cories and a bristle nose pleco.

[Decz]

Originally posted by silver_shark
Just tested pH again and with about 2 hours it went from 8.8 to 7.4!!! Amazing!!! Is this typical with sand???

I have never heard of that happening before. I use playsand in most of my tanks, sure it takes forever to clean, but, I've really never heard of a ph shift like that, especially one that comes right back down.

Is there anything else that you added to the tank during this process?

[jdheff1982]

Sorry for the delayed reply, but the only other thing I have added is Kordons AmQuel. I am using the same filters as when it was previously up, but other than that, that's it!

[jdheff1982]

BTW, I noticed that when I stir the sand, bubbles rise out of it. Are these trapped air bubbles?? Hope they are not anaerobic bacteria...

Also have a quick update, I have added 6 new live plants to my tank!! 2 amazon swords and 4 bundles of anarchis. They look great!! I wasn't sure that I would be able to keep live plants, but seems like it should be pretty easy!!!

As far as fish is concerned, I think I will go with that sort of cleaning crew that NJ Devils Fan mentioned. Now the other part of the tank, hmmmm...... I am still thinking about some barbs of some sort, but not sure!!

Another thing, would my tank be considered cycled if it reads..


0 ammo
0 nitrites
0 nitrates??

Thanks for all the help!!