Pebbles to Sand? Blue Crayfish and others.

I was told that you could not use sand and UGF together. I just changed my tank from gravel to sand about 3 weeks ago. I took all my fish out and put them in a 10g tank. Then I drained half of the water. Then my wife and I picked through my gravel one small scoop at a time to rescue all my trumpet snails, this took about 2 hours or so. Then I rinsed my sand (5g bucket at a time) until water was clear. It took me about 2 hours to rinse 55 lbs of sand. I then scooped the sand into the tank one scoop at a time to not cloud up water to badly. This helped my filter so it did not have to work as hard when I plugged it back in. No matter how much you rinse the sand the tank will still cloud up a bit for a few days. Once all the sand was in I put all my rocks and plants back in place and filled tank back up with water. I also saved some of my gravel in some nylons and let it sit in the tank for a few days. I took about three days and the water was all clear again. I tested water and everything was fine so I put my fish back in. Fish are still all alive and well and my tank looks great. Was it worth all the work?? Definately!!!

I don't think it would be too good for your fish if you try to make the change while they are still in the tank. If you have the time to do it the way I did it thats what I would recommend.

Does anyone else out there have any ideas on this????

i love that binary joke.

sorry, i can't help though, i think that a ufg with sand would just suck it all up. a reverse flow ufg might work, but it would probably make the sand go all over the place. if you decide to change filtration, then sand would be a wonderful idea. so many fish like to pick through for bits of food and your bottom dwellers would love the feel of it. your crayfish might even hide in it. i've also found that it's much easier to keep plants in the sand.

NORMANBOND007 said:

Hehe, thanks for all the help. What kind of system would anyone suggest, please?

Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I have just a normal hang of the back Aqua clear 300 on my tank. I does a great job. I have managed to keep my Rams healthy for 5 months now, and plan to add a Discus very soon.

The UGF works well because the gravel can't get under it. The sand will be sucked down slowly but surely, whether or not there is some gravel down there first. Then it will be clogged and just not work.

You are correct, UGF will not work with sand. Even with a layer of gravel underneith. The sand will always work its way to the bottom. If you go with sand. Use pool filter sand. The grains are a little larger than playsand and there is faaaaar less dust.

I think you shouldnt also take into account your plants. i know plants can grow in the sand if ou suppliment them, but i think you may need to use some kind of mixture of some kind of nutrient rich substrate. the only problem, and i would have had this problem whiich is why i didnt go with sand even though it looks great, is that if you do go with a mixture, the sand goes to the bottom, just like with gravel. the UGF will definitely not work. i have a regular power filter in my 20G and it cleared up my water in a day and a half after i added some eco-complete.