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I'm getting a 55 gallon for Christmas. I had wanted to make it have a sand substrate. I was just wondering what kind of sand I should get and how to go about cleaing it. Do I rinse it, put it in the tank, then add water? How do I prevent it from getting in the filter? How do I keep it stirred up? Sorry this is so many questions and thanks in advance!

Sand looks great in tanks....I love it in mine, but I've also had a bit of trouble with it.

Ordinary play sand will work fine, you can also sometimes find a whiter sand @some landscaping shops....you'll just want to check that it won't raise the ph of the tank by testing it with some vinegar.

Rinsing is really REALLY important. Some leave it in a bucket and run a hose over it stirring it constantly....I just rinsed a few handfulls @a time in a small container until the water was clear ....again stirring constantly. Even a little bit of dust is enough to get into the filter and jam it.

Keeping it out of the filter...that's one I'm still working on ] ....having the intake raised some will help, also cover the intake should help.

In the tank, I have MTS (malaysian trumpet snails) and plants that work their way thru the sand, I'll also stir it up with my hand after doing a water change to get anything off the surface that's settled there.
HTH a bit .

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*[/font]

Last edited by Babelfish at 04-Oct-2004 18:19

Babelfish, I'm dying to know, what is HTH???


I use a fairly coarse quartz sand in some of my tanks, it's pristine white when you put it in, but keeping that way is a headache.

Stupid fish poo ]

Curare,
I think that HTH means "hope that helps" at least that's what I always assume it means

jenbabe256 has it right exactly .....

as for fish poo landing on the surface...if you use a submersible powerhead to help keep the water circulating it'll reduce the ammount of waste that actually settles on the substrate....HOWEVER if you don't rinse the sand really really REALLY well prior to placing it in the tank small particles are more likely to be caught up by your filter and jam it or scratch the impellor ect ect ect....I've managed to damage 2 in 2 months so far >.<
Raise the intake shaft if you're running a HOB filter (aquaclear ect) also cover the intake with some sort of filtration that will stop the sand...yes this will also keep it from collecting the larger debris in the sponge....I have some floss over the intake on the powerhead which gets rinsed off as it becomes clogged along with the cover over the filter itself.

I love the look of sand, and my corys sure love playing in it...but it does take a bit of extra maintence .

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*