Question on sand substrate.

B

BloodThirsty28

AC Members
Jun 26, 2006
470
0
0
For those of you who have it. How do you keep it clean? I've only ever had gravel and of course the gravel vac cleans it. I'm just wondering how you do it without losing all your sand. Thanks.


PS - I'm starting to REALLY enjoy the look of sand over gravel.
 
Ah, this one I can help with. I am happier with sand then I have ever been. my method and it takes some practices is running the siphon close to the sand so the crud gets up but the sand stays put.
 
Ghost_knife said:
Ah, this one I can help with. I am happier with sand then I have ever been. my method and it takes some practices is running the siphon close to the sand so the crud gets up but the sand stays put.
Click to expand...



So the nasty stuff doesn't penetrate the sand like it does the gravel?
 
BloodThirsty28 said:
So the nasty stuff doesn't penetrate the sand like it does the gravel?
Click to expand...


Nope, just kinda lays on the top of the sand. The particle size won't allow the nasty crap to fall between the cracks like in gravel. Having a few bottom feeders should help with keeping the sand relatively clean.

I've gone sand with my new tank, I used gravel on my old tank that I got rid of 7 years ago. Haven't done a tank since then up until last week, and I gotta say I like the look of sand, much cleaner.. AND REALISTIC! I've never set foot in water thats not had a sandy bottom.
 
Cool...What about with plecos though? Would they be sucking up sand all the time? Do the other fish ever ingest the sand?
 
plecos are fine with sand. Word of caution though with sand. If you have a HOT or HOB filter, be sure not to turn the filter on for functioning until all (and I mean all) sand has settle into the tank first. Odtentimes, the impeller gets ruined by the sand... or the filter will make a grinding noise....
 
Thanks for the info everyone. I highly doubt I would switch mine out in the near future but it's always good info to have. I don't even want to think about moving my fish out, getting rock out, then adding sand at the moment. Sounds like a huge undertaking.
 
I have it in 2 of my tanks, and am seriously thinking about putting in the rest of them too. Love it! It looks cleaner, the fish seems to like it, and I don't think its hard to clean at all. Only thing I didn't like is the initial washing. I got my sand from the gravel pit so it was icky. Took forever to wash.
 
I recently switched over from gravel to sand, and it looks amazing! Cleaning it is super easy as you don't have to dig deep - just collect it from the top. I also have a bunch of trumpet snails that burry in sand and turn it over. As for plants, I have some crypts and they are growing like mad!! Needless to say, I'm really happy with it. :D
 
my Pleco's LOVE sand. I have skitter marks all over where they like to sit and everything. I love sand and am in the process of redoing all my tanks to it :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom