More Sand Questions?

[el wadd]

well, seeing as how sand seems to be such a hot topic...I figured I'd throw my own questions out there without hijacking anyone elses thread. I'm ready to get some substrate for the new tank, and have been seriously considering taking the plunge into sand.

1. anyone on here run into problems with cannister filters and sand substrate? one would think even a few particles getting up into the inner workings of a cannister filter could do some damage.

2. i read somewhere that besides skimming the surface with every water change, every so often you should "turn the sand"...meaning you actually churn up the sand. this can't be good, can it? seems to me the fish would NOT like that.

3. seems like everyone on here agrees that pool filter sand is the way to go. why is that?

4. is there a preferable type for discus?...i.e. i know some sands will play with alkalinity/acidity.
are the any that actually bring it down, as opposed to crushed coral etc... which raise it?

5. should I lay down a bottom layer of something else before the sand?

6. i have an acrylic tank. never had one before, and hear they scratch pretty easily...is it worth the risk?

 

[kelly82]

i have sand in my tank,i will never go back to gravel,my tank was very cloudy for the first day or so even after thoroughly washing the sand but it settled well and its so much easier to keep clean i think,any debris settles on the bottom and when i do pwc i 'hoover' the bottom as the water is being sucked out,then i gently stir up the bottom all over,it settles again inside 2-3mins,hoover over again then set up the plants etc again,fish are fine with it,and my tank seems so much cleaner than when i had gravel. plus my corys are so much happier.

 

[FishyAmor]

I've recently rescaped my 26G from gravel to sand (pool filter), it's still early days but for some reason the water seems cloudy still (even after some rinsing the sand).

I'm using a fluval 105 canister for filtration and although the water is getting clearer over the past few days it's taking it's time. I did a pwc tonight and it seems to have helped some what...i dont know maybe the filter media needs a good clean?:huh:

sorry el wadd, i couldn't be of more help but i guess i've got similar question to yours...

 

[red devil]

If I may add on to your thread - hopefully in the same spirit - can you use a RUGF in a tank with a sand substrate? Will sand grow bacteria?

Pictures! Let's see pictures!

 

[Charlie Greiner]

The reason your tank may be cloudy is that your filtration may be stirring the fine sand particles. If you can, turn iff the filtration for a day and see what happens.

Charlie

 

[jm1212]

if the sand has a big enough grain, you can have a RUGF with it.

to avoid getting sand in the filter, put a sponge over the intake.

you should stir up the bed every now and again. take the fish out of the tank when you do this though.

pool filter sand is usually recomended becuase it has a larger grain than other sands and will not get stirred up as much.

if you want you can put something under the sand, but you do not have to.

sand probably wont scratch the bottom of the tank, but then again, it is the bottom.

 

[Yoemen]

I prefer playsand to pool sand. I like the smaller grain and my raphaels love to dig in it.

I have a friend who is using that really white reptile sand. It looks amazing in his tank as white as it is, but I have read that it may leach calcium or something into the water that is bad so I haven't tried it yet. But it is very pretty to look at.

 

[Firebelly__girl]

Any body have any pictures of their tanks with play sand? I would like to see it before I ever thought about trying it

 

[el wadd]

if the sand has a big enough grain, you can have a RUGF with it.

to avoid getting sand in the filter, put a sponge over the intake.

you should stir up the bed every now and again. take the fish out of the tank when you do this though.

pool filter sand is usually recomended becuase it has a larger grain than other sands and will not get stirred up as much.

if you want you can put something under the sand, but you do not have to.

sand probably wont scratch the bottom of the tank, but then again, it is the bottom.

heh heh heh...what do you mean you don't care if the BOTTOM gets scratched? I meant, the walls etc...i heard that it is relatively easy to scratch acrylic tanks by having just 1 grain of sand in your scrubber.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

1. anyone on here run into problems with cannister filters and sand substrate? one would think even a few particles getting up into the inner workings of a cannister filter could do some damage.

sand can damage the filter. i have a sponge over my filter to keep it out.

2. i read somewhere that besides skimming the surface with every water change, every so often you should "turn the sand"...meaning you actually churn up the sand. this can't be good, can it? seems to me the fish would NOT like that.

well i never skim the surface of my tanks. you want to mix the sand up. a lot of people use chop sticks at the end of the gravel vac. keeps gas pockets from forming.

3. seems like everyone on here agrees that pool filter sand is the way to go. why is that?

you dont have to wash it as much as play sand. i used play sand with no problem but most people like the pool sand more. less cleaning some say looks better others say it doesn compact as much.

4. is there a preferable type for discus?...i.e. i know some sands will play with alkalinity/acidity.
are the any that actually bring it down, as opposed to crushed coral etc... which raise it?

the sand i have seen doesnt mess with ph. use RO if you want the 7 ph.

5. should I lay down a bottom layer of something else before the sand?

if your planting the tank you might. if not sand is fine.

6. i have an acrylic tank. never had one before, and hear they scratch pretty easily...is it worth the risk?

dont have one but i dont see why it would scratch any more then reg gravel.