changing sand substrate
- Thread starter onepawnup
- Start date
I have never tried this, but I assume you could just syphon all your current sand into a bucket when doing a water change. Then, you could dump that sand and water mixture into your yard. Then you could add the new sand to your tank. Make sure you turn off your filter when you add the sand, however, because any sucked up sand could damage the impeller. That's what I would try...
Simply take the sand out then place the unopenned bag of new sand in the tank (or put the sand in a plastic bag) and open it under the water in order to minimize the amount of sand you get floating around in your tank.
Just my two bits worth, but I would recommending thoroughly rinsing the new sand before putting it in the aquarium. Opening it inside the tank will create alot of clouding; I just put sand as substrate in my new tank, and first rinsed it 4-5 times in 5-gal buckets to get rid of unwanted particulates. Talk about getting up into your impellor!! :dance2:
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that sounds like a lot of work (replacing sand substrate). i had that stuff in my 20 gallon long and i'm glad i had to break the tank down for other reasons so i could get rid of the sand. i would say a spoon and bucket would be my weapon of choice. i don't think my siphon had enough pressure to suck all of the sand out of bottom.
i wondered about this myself
I know in saltwater systems sand (or rather crushed coral) is used as a substrate. But I've been told it should be changed every year and a half because the "sand" provides a buffering action for the tank, and the buffering wears out after time.
It seems removing the entire subtrate every year and a half would be a pain, especially while keeping everything else in the tank.
I know in saltwater systems sand (or rather crushed coral) is used as a substrate. But I've been told it should be changed every year and a half because the "sand" provides a buffering action for the tank, and the buffering wears out after time.
It seems removing the entire subtrate every year and a half would be a pain, especially while keeping everything else in the tank.
patoloco
De seguro no sabes lo que dice aqu
I did this a while ago!
I had a 70 gl tank with blue sand, and replaced it all with black.
To remove the old sand, I went to the hardware store and bouth 5 feet of 1" rubber hose. I did a fork like cut in one of the hose extremes, just like this:
|-----|
|-----|
|-/a\-|
|/aaii\|
I used it to syphon all the sand into a 5 gl bucket with a towel in it. After sucking out 3-4 gallons, I poured the sand collected in the towel into another bucket andreturned the water to the tank.
Since it was a just a hose, the sand would be sucked out with a lot of force.
When all the sand (well, 99%) was out, I started pouring the new sand slowly into the tank. I had previously rinsed it for a few hours to make it sink faster.
when all the sand was inside, I used a fish net to scope out any floating debris. When the sand was settled, I turned the filter on in a low setting.
I had a caniseter filter whose set up filter the water before it reached the impeller. If you filter had the impeller exposed to unfiltered water, you'll have to cover the intake with a sponge to avoid filter damage.
I had a 70 gl tank with blue sand, and replaced it all with black.
To remove the old sand, I went to the hardware store and bouth 5 feet of 1" rubber hose. I did a fork like cut in one of the hose extremes, just like this:
|-----|
|-----|
|-/a\-|
|/aaii\|
I used it to syphon all the sand into a 5 gl bucket with a towel in it. After sucking out 3-4 gallons, I poured the sand collected in the towel into another bucket andreturned the water to the tank.
Since it was a just a hose, the sand would be sucked out with a lot of force.
When all the sand (well, 99%) was out, I started pouring the new sand slowly into the tank. I had previously rinsed it for a few hours to make it sink faster.
when all the sand was inside, I used a fish net to scope out any floating debris. When the sand was settled, I turned the filter on in a low setting.
I had a caniseter filter whose set up filter the water before it reached the impeller. If you filter had the impeller exposed to unfiltered water, you'll have to cover the intake with a sponge to avoid filter damage.