Sand substrate my questions

MightyWarMonger

MightyWarMonger

I probably alredy hate you !!!
Mar 18, 2007
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Maryland
I have never used sand before and am curiouse about it as I want to make another tank and was considering useing sand.

1. Do you vacume sand like gravel & if not how do you clean it.
2. What tpy of sand is good to use and what if any thing do you need to do to it before adding it to the tank
3. What are some of the pros & cons of having sand

It will most likely be for tropical fish and I don't have the other tank yet so I don't know dimentions or any thing yet. Also I havn't figured out what I will be stocking it with either. I realy just want to know a little more about using sand as a substrate.
 
I really like sand. For me it's easier to maintain.

To vacum/clean, you just keep it about an inch above the sand, so the sand itself doesn't get sucked up. Occasionally take a straw or something similar and poke down into the sand. It prevents pockets of gas from building up.

For less expensive sand, you can get it at a Home Depot (play sand) but make sure you rinse it very well! I got mine at a pool equipment place, and it was sand for your pool filter. A little different than play sand, but just as inexpensive. It also has to be rinsed well.
You can also buy aquarium sand, which is more expensive, but has different colors. Depends on the look you want.

The pros, to me at least, are that food and waste settles on top of the sand, so it's easier to clean. Some fish like it better if they like to burrow and stuff, and it has a more natural look. My catfish love it!

The cons are the gas pockets, if you let them build up. And if you have a planted tank, some of the plants will not root as well in sand.

Good luck with your new tank!
 
thanx for the tips, I dont plan on having a planted tank and how exactly do I rinse sand? I use a strainer for my rocks but sand turns to mud so I am a little confused on how to do it. as for the gas pockets what kind of gas and now often is ocasinoly and how long to leave the straw in and is it just one straw or is there a formula for gallons and straws?
 
I used a bucket and my outside hose to rinse the sand.
I just let the water run, with the bucket tilted a little so the water runs out. I stuck the hose into the sand and did it until the water ran fairly clear.

About the gases. Here's a snippet from what I read on the web:

A major concern for the aquarium with sand as the substrate is anaerobic gas pockets. The combination of the fine grains of sand and the depth of your substrate can lead to these pockets that are actually hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen Sulfide, often seen as H2S, is toxic to you (large amounts) and to your fish! There are several ways to help combat this potential problem. The first would be, as with gravel, don’t go to deep. A very fine gravel should not be more than 3 cm deep and allowing more depth as the grain size increases.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a straw, that was something I just used the first time. I also use anything that's small like that, just to poke holes in the sand when you do your maintenance. You don't need to let it stay in there or anything like that.
Sorry for the confusion! :)
 
cool I might go with aquarium sand just so I can have a differnt color, but I like the regular sand color to we wil see. Once agan thanx
 
I used pool filter sand from Leslie's and did not rinse it at all. It never clouded the water at all. I like the way it looks, too. I have play sand in another tank, it has a really fine grain and shows every speck of debris. The pool sand has a coarser grain and looks more natural imo. I like it much better. The fish in my 55 w/ sand don't spend much time on the bottom but I have kribs in my 20 gallon w/ sand and they love it. As soon as I put them in there they dug all around their rock cave and made all kinds of mini caves around it. So now they have a little condo. If you have digging fish, and a lot of rock, make sure you put the rocks on the bottom and then add the sand, otherwise the fish could dig out the supporting sand and cause a rockslide.
 
jessicar613 said:
If you have digging fish, and a lot of rock, make sure you put the rocks on the bottom and then add the sand, otherwise the fish could dig out the supporting sand and cause a rockslide.
Click to expand...
^^^ FUNNY but true lol ^^^

Were do/did you get pool filter sand from and is it expensive? I'm trying to get a 220gal tank at the moment and I wanted to use sand and stone/rocks in it with a couple peices of driftwood as well. Alsp I'm not sure what I want to stock it with, I like to get colorful fish like chichlids but there aggressive (witch I don't mind) and don't know how many of what kind I can put together that will co exsist in a tank. I wanted decent sised fish to put in there to so I dont have a millon small fish in a big tank.
 
I got my pool filter sand at Leslie's, which I believe is a national chain and has their own brand of sand. It was 8 or nine bucks for a 50lb bag, which was just about right for my 55 gallon tank. It did not need rinsing at all. Other brands might need rinsing, but from what I've heard, the pool filter sand is prerinsed, since it's meant to be used in a filter. If you have any doubts swish some sand around in a cup and see if it clouds the water.

You might look into a pond or landscaping shop for your rocks - you can get all kinds of rocks at a pond shop for around thirty cents a lb. Pond shops also sell aquatic plants.
 
awsome never though about going to a pond shop and I'll remeber the sand in a cup thing to
 
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