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I have come to a great conclusion today after filling up my 55 gallon with black tahisian (sp?) moon sand...all of you people with sand in your tanks are crazy!!! I am sore all over my body from rinsing that stuff and dragging it across the apartment to the tank then dumping it in. I have blisters on my hands too! And...to top it all off, the water is still really clody looking even though I thought I rinsed it enough. Good lordy..I hope it all turns out okay. Thanks to everyone for all the great advice when I was filling up the tank!

Thank you!

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

It looks great Bob! Did I mention I hate you j/k. I definitely think your sand experience was way better than mine and your tank looks absolutely beautiful with those discus in it. Good luck!

Jen,

I set-up my 125 yesterday and added fish. Follow this link...

http://www.aquaforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1465&st=20&p=14542&

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

alrighty..here is the update...
So, I'm not a very patient person so I decided to empty out most of the water from the tank. After emptying out the majority of water in the tank and refilling it and letting it sit over night...
I have clear water!!! It looks really nice, but I don't think I'll put sand in another tank anytime soon
Thanks to all who helped me with this whole sand fiasco.

I don't know anyone with those types of filters...I am the only one of my friends who has a tank...all my friends think I am crazy with this fish hobby. My filter is a whisper that came in a kit with the tank.

Jen,

If you know someone with a diatom filter or a magnum HOB that has the pleated paper cartridge, call them. I lent mine to a friend who did sand and the Magnum cleared him up in 6 hours.

Do clean your filter, you may have a build up of sand in the unit that needs to be cleared. What type of filter are you using?


__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

only 12 hours! I definitely don't think I did something right then. I put the sand in Wednesday night and it still looks super cloudy with no hint of clearing up anytime soon. Is there anything I can do to speed this up? I THOUGHT I washed the sand good enough, but apparently not.

Mine took less than 12 hours. It helps if you can leave the filters off for awhile (not more than an hour), then do a gentle substrate sweep with a gravel vac.

I love my sand

^_^
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Will do...thanks! Just out of curiousity, how long does it normally take for the tank to clear? days, weeks, years?

Be sure to clean your filter after the water clears. You will get quite a bit of the dusty silica caught up in your mechanical filtration.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Bob,
If I ever decide to do sand again...I am definitely going to have to go with the ecocomplete! I am so sore today (the day after). I feel like I did a huge workout yesterday! Oh well, I definitely think it was worth it. Today, the tank is starting to clear up and the sand really looks pretty.

Jen!

You made me laugh with your post! I'm setting up a 125 on Saturday with 200 pounds of EcoComplete as a planted tank. I specifically chose the EcoComplete because:
1. Good plant substrate
2. No washing
3. No washing
4. No washing
5. No washing

Well, you get the idea...

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Okeedokee, so I have decided to upgrade to a 55 gallon tank, am probably getting it either tonight or tomorrow. I know that I want this tank to have sand. How much sand/how many bags of sand do I need to fill this tank. I was wanting to get black sand, but does anyone think that play sand looks okay? To stop anaerobic pockets can I just stir the sand occassionally or do I HAVE to have MTS? I'm pretty excited and don't want to get overzealous so if there is anything I'm missing..let me know. Also, is it best to get fake plants with sand?
Thanks and sorry for all the questions!
Jen

jen- for my 55 gal, i bought 2, 50 pound bags of play sand. i used about one and a half bags and have about 2 inches of substrate.

alrighty thanks alot!

Jen,

Your aquarium is 48 x 13 x 20 inches. Assuming an overall substrate depth of 2 inches, the Dennerle substrate calculator indicates that you would need 84 pounds of substrate. A 3 inch substrate depth will require 112 pounds.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

okeedokee, thanks for all the great info...but someone said I would need 40 pounds for a 55 gallon and someone else said 110. That's a pretty big difference so I was just wondering which one I should lean towards?

Exactly. And for my SAs I do just as you do with a mix of tap water and RO. Only I use less than 50% tap, as my tap is 8.5-9.0ph and the hardness 25+. And as well, I use a lot of peat and drift wood in my holding tanks. And yes, I like the yellow look of my black water tanks, LOL. As I also use peat for my killifish breeding, I always have it on hand. But, I have to say, the angels and the discus are really not my thing. I have a few of each, but just because I took them in trade. I do like them, but not sure if I will ever breed them.



Last edited by ACIDRAIN at 16-Nov-2004 01:40

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There is always a bigger fish...

Actually, a very good post. I had to smile when I read your comment on the "softness" of 6kH. "Soft" for Africans is considered "hard" for SA cichlids. As a discus breeder, I do watch kH as it gives me an idea if the tank may experience a pH crash. However, I rarely play with RO and I never play with reconstituting water.

The problem, IMHO, with elixirs that reconstitute water is that we are attempting to manipulate one or two characteristics of the environment while often ignoring the whole. Attempting to drive down pH safely requires many discus breeders to add buffers to their water to maintain or raise their kH.

It is easier to maintain a stable environment for the fish by using tap water than by using RO water and adding back an uncertain level of minerals. In maintaining the stable environment for the bulk of the fish, breeding pairs can be shifted to a tank with a 50/50 blend of RO and tap water with water conductivity of 30 to 100 microsiemens for breeding.

Soft water is marvelous for breeding but acid water is not soft water.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright