Pro's and Con's about sand in a freshwater setup...

[turbid]

i have sand in my 600 ltr, however i have a 10" stingray stirring it up constantly in search of food. all i have for decor are some plastic plants in the corners to cover the inlet pipes of the filters. i do not vac but when i do water changes i grab my fish net and scoop up any debris, the sand simply falls out of the net.

as for the aro eating sand mine does but it just spits is out from the gills, like midnight said.

tank is always clear and never had any problems wiht water quality or fish health AFAIK.

the only drawback, as stated before is that the filters will suck sand and clog, either by reducing flow or by killing the impellor.

 

[doubledragon]

The "cloudiness" is from very very fine particles that are either washed out before insertion or will be filtered out over time. Vacuming also helps to reduce these microscopic particles. Sooner or later, all that will be left are the larger grains of sand. As the sand is kicked up, it makes a small "cloud" that immediatly settles within seconds with no effect to water clearity. Getting it to this point will take a little time however but can be sped up by properly washing the sand first, cleaning often with a sand vac (or a standard vac with the tip taken off), and being sure to clean 3/4-1" deep.

No-one mentioned it in the "sand cleaning" post, but the use of paint strainer sitting an inch or two below the surface of the warm water in a bucket, will help to seriously reduce these smaller particles. The further you drop the strainer, the larger the particles the strainer will catch. Do you get what I'm saying?

Not really, but that is because I'm not exactly sure what a paint strainer looks like. I'll check one out. Whenever I pre-clean my gravel before I put it in tanks I just use a regular plastic spagetti strainer.
Should I clean the sand over and over and over with this method or is would just once be ok? Probably the more the better I imagine...

 

[nvrmor2paradise]

Nope, just once works perfect. Slowly pour the sand over the strainer as it sits a couple inches under the surface in the bucket. Shake it slightly up and down or swirl it (like panning for gold). The larger grains fall to the bottom of the strainer while the rest stays suspended in the water or falls through the strainer. This technique works perfect.

Get one of the plastic ones if your doing quite a bit.

BTW, a paint strainer is a 6-8" cone looking thing. Thay have them at Home Depot or Lowes in the paint section. The paper ones are usually free but won't do too much before falling apart.

 

[doubledragon]

Nope, just once works perfect. Slowly pour the sand over the strainer as it sits a couple inches under the surface in the bucket. Shake it slightly up and down or swirl it (like panning for gold). The larger grains fall to the bottom of the strainer while the rest stays suspended in the water or falls through the strainer. This technique works perfect.

Get one of the plastic ones if your doing quite a bit.

BTW, a paint strainer is a 6-8" cone looking thing. Thay have them at Home Depot or Lowes in the paint section. The paper ones are usually free but won't do too much before falling apart.

Thank's a lot! Didn't make it to check one out, but now I think I know what youre talking about. Will I be able to tell real quick how much is to much to pour in the strainer at one time. Will the water still be a little cloudy after this type of cleaning or should it be almost clear from the start?

 

[Ali1]

If you have quality sand, you don't have to worry about damaging your impeller. I have the colorquartz type S, which is the finest of the two types, and it settles quickly after my pleco has swept his tail left and right. Also, your intakes should not be anywhere close to the bottom if you have a HOB.

As far as the packed sand goes, I just stir up my stand everytime I do a water change, just to be on the safe side. I haven't seen any tests or confirmation that this is true, but i'd rather do the extra stir than lose all my fishes.

 

[BigCountry]

My dad gave me my 75 gallon, which I am using for freshwater. He ran the tank as salt, with sand and an undergravel filter - this was like 17+ years ago when undergravel + Magnum 350's were KING. lol

Anyday, I still have all the parts/plastic trays to hook up the undergravel system. I was debating changing out the rock and replacing it with pool filter sand. Using the undergravel to keep the sand clean (and nothing else) since my bio is filtered in a XP3.

Will the undergravel help keep the sand clean? Or would I still have to vacum it?

I am debating switching to sand because I am just sick of trying to keep these damn rocks white.....yes I am an idiot and purchased white rock substrate..lol

It's all about ease of maintenance for me I guess. Which is easier?

 

[mushroomsoup]

Ive adjusted my RIO power head in my tank so that it blows all the poo to the intake of my XP3 but blows very minimal sand. If all the poop isn't picked up by my canister than all of it is pushed to one spot. that way i only ever have to vacuum a small portion of my tank. I do use fairly fine sand (play sand) and it is tough to no suck any up whilst vacuuming.

 

[iloveoscars702]

i use pfs like everyone else and i like it because it is heavy enough "gravel vac" it, its really cheap and its natural looking.

 

[Blue2Fyre]

I have sand in my tank and I love the look of it. My cichlids love digging in it. I don't stir it up very much but I have malaysian trumpet snails I got free from Petsmart that keep it stirred. I've had no problems with air pockets.