Why not to use sand
- Thread starter Polyptasaurus
- Start date
bluehairman;3201225; said:
I would say it could happen with almost all sands. But I could never say 100% positively because sizes of available sand vary by name and actual size. But in most cases, yes it does happen with most types of sand as they are all compact enough to trap harmful gases.
Natural_Born_Killer;3200658; said:Quote:
Originally Posted by Natural_Born_Killer
Those snails mentioned above, would they not be a good snack for lets say, an Oscar?
MTS are well protected with their shell structure. That is unlikely to happen.
Oki doki thanks for that... I was just wondering if the O's would just gobble them up in one go (never seen the snails so I don't even know how big they are)
But its a good idea to maybe put a few of them in my main tank.
If I were you I would not introduce them into your tank. There is no such thing as having only 1 MTS. They tend to breed like crazy.
Also:
To the guy who started this thread, He is just trying to get everyone worried about using sand. Maybe it didn't work for him because he dosen't know how to handle cleaning the sand in a tank properly. There is no need for anyone to be freeking out about the sand in their tanks right now. It will be fine. People have been using sand in tanks and aquatic boxes for many years. The starter of this thread should have wrote and titled this "IN MY OPINION, I DON'T WANT TO USE SAND IN MY TANKS!" But instead, tried to write something half ass'd and barly any scientific, if any at all data to back up his so called "facts."
His sister may be into marine biology but he is not. Therfore this thread is somewhat void in my eyes.
Not trying to be a jerk but don't spread incorrect information on this site because there will always be someone that knows better.
Recap: Sand = ok for fish tanks!!
As long as you have a good waterchange/tank maintinence schedule
My cousin has a tank with sand and some cichlid(not sure what kind) that keeps on stirring it up. The sand seems pretty heavy and falls back down and it looks nice too 
Guys, the whole trapped gas issue is not just sand. All substrates can have pockets of anaerobic bacteria due to compression. The substrate compresses down over time PREVENTING oxygenated water from penetrating small pockets of your tank. These anaerobic bacteria excrete hydrosulfane gas, which in water becomes sulfuric acid.
In order for this to be a problem you need to be truly terrible at maintaining your tank and have livestock that do not dig, shift, or disturb your substrate at all.
In order for this to be a problem you need to be truly terrible at maintaining your tank and have livestock that do not dig, shift, or disturb your substrate at all.
Well said Rucus!!!!!!!! i completly agree with you
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Can people please drop this silly topic... just hover the surface once a week and stir!! Magic problem solved
Ahh but you can have a nice balance of assasin snails and MTS...
!No with fine sand it compacts quicker... its only when the sand compacts the bubbles form... that answers ur question why the bubles dont rise rise through it.. they cant when its compact...!! all sand compacts over time! (Velanarris explined the same thing prob a bit better)
Can people please drop this silly topic... just hover the surface once a week and stir!! Magic problem solved
i just want to say i hate sand for aquariums...its always a mess to deal with...it gets everywhere....its got into every filter i have ever put on a tank with sand..and i finally had enough and python syphon shot a good 100 bucks worth of sand into my back yard...never again.. but thats just IMO
i can somewhat agree that sand does trap nitrates because if uneaten food or poop gets trapped in for awhile, it will cause ammonia spikes. this happens to me a couple times a year
swede;3199749; said:
ahhahahahhahahahhaha
personally I have never had issues with the sand in my tanks
I stir it up to release any stuff trapped in it
my fish stir it up because they are always moving stuff
Jamieishard;3201762; said:
Jamie, I am absolutely NOT saying you should be using sand. They are your tanks and do whatever makes you happy with them... But it is fair to mention in response to this that grain size of the sand can make all the difference. The pretty colored sand sold at most LFS's labeled "Aquarium Sand" is typically very fine grained and often causes such problems. Using a larger grained sand will highly reduce the potential for filter damage... also prefilters can be used to prevent sand from ever entering the filter...
Since you had $100 worth of sand I can only assume you bought the over priced "Aquarium Sand", as Pool Filter Sand or other industrial purpose sands (the larger grained stuff) is usually around $4~8 per 50 lbs, making $100 worth or it more than even the most monstrous fish tanks would need.
black_monster;3201968; said:
As mentioned previously waste is lighter than sand and the gaps between sand particles is smaller than even exceptionally small waste particles therefore it is unlikely to settle into the sand
The gaps between pieces of gravel are MUCH larger than gaps between sand particles and does allow waste to fall into the gravel. So the problem of waste rotting in gravel causing an ammonia spike is far greater than the same thing happening with sand.
Sure you can gravel vac but simply put, you will never be able to get all of the rotting waste out of the gravel through conventional gravel vacuuming then consider the time/effort of siphoning waste off the surface of sand and giving it a quick stir to doing a gravel vac Its much easier to keep a sand bottomed tank much cleaner
Lastly, I wont quote anyone on this as many posters have made this error Sand can compact and allow gases to form it is not true nor fair to say sand does compact and allow gases to form Myself an many other hobbyists can speak from personal experience that this is an exceptionally rare, yet possible, thing to have happen in a fish tank and in those rare situations that it does, it is due to user error (typically deep sand beds AND not disturbing those sand beds for an extended period of time).
I agree this thread is just silly yet I feel compelled to defuse misinformation or poor guidance I completely agree we can make poor decisions when using sand and cause problems but the sand didnt cause the problem, the poor decision did So proper education is the solution, not using gravel