Sand Substate

B

bortsamson

Resident Cat herder
Aug 6, 2003
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Abbotsford, BC. Canada Eh?
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Hey all, hows it going
OK, to the point
I have started a 33G for my pleco, since hes now to big for my community tank
I wanted him to be most comfy in his new environment, so I decided to go with Sand as the substrate.
Being the genious that I am, I decided to NOT rinse the gravel before adding it to the tank
Now I have one milky mess.
I have vacuumed alot of the sand out, that is, the stuff that seems to be floating around, but its still milky
So, now, for those that have added sand, am I on the right track with just keeping the water changes up to clear things up? any other suggestions?
 
The sand will settle on its own if you just let it be for a couple of days. Vacuuming is only going to stir it up more. If the tank is still empty/not fishless cycling I would even shut the filter down for a day or tow. Obviously not possible if its stocked but it helps to speed things up.

I used washed, screened playsand on my 29g. I didn't bother rinsing it out of the bag so I just dropped it in and added water with an udspide down plate on the sand. It was really cloudy for a full day but was noticeably clearer the next moring and completely clear by the next day.

Tom
 
I used play sand, well, it was actually UTILITY sand, same stuff, sterilized and whatnot, but as fer right now, it has been becoming clearer, little by little.
ANd the filter setup is a sump, with a surface skimmer, so I dont end up sucking up sand into any filter motors, heheh
BTW a little sidenote, I built the sump setup myself, so when it worked the FIRST time I was very impressed.
 
no fish yet. Its going to be inhabited by a pleco, and possibly some frogs, cories, generally just a bottom feeder tank. For the moment, the plan is just to get the pleco in there. But I have to cycle the tank first.
I'm thinking what I might do is plant the sump tank, that way I can have the benefit of plants soaking up the ammonia, etc etc and not worry aboot the pleco munching away at them or dislodging them, like he currently does in my 55G
 
just thought I would update those interested
After about 4 days of using my unrinsed sand, the water is becoming MUCH clearer.
Should have the pleco in there by this weekend, his new sandy paradise.
I will post pics
 
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