Why not to use sand

[Jgray152]

I love sand and never have an issue.

I ESPECIALLY never had my PH drop to 4 from disturbing it.

If filth actually got trapped into sand. Don't you think Anaerobic bacteria would cultivate if nitrates are present converting nitrates into nitrogen as the end result?? Some nitrate filters are built like this actually, except with a bit more flow through the sand. This will also highly depend on the grain size of the sand. Finer sand will not allow filth to get into it. The sand on top is also darker in color than the sand under it in my tank.

My sand is about 1" think and 2" think in some areas. Never have a problem with the sand clogging filters. The very very little sand does get sucked up into the filter but never reaches the impeller or causes harm.

I don't worry about anything that has been said in the first post. All paranoia. The world can end tomorrow, who wants to step up and think of possible ways its going to end just to be paranoid?

 

[12 Volt Man]

Okay fellas, I emailed this concern to my bio professor I'm doing undergrad research with.

this is his reply :


Hey,
Great question. I have mud on the bottom of most of the tanks in 101,
and in fact, it does trap anaerobic deposits. Sand does a fair job of it
too, especially the fine stuff. Whenever I clean out, or stir, one of
these aquariums, I get a little whiff of hydrogen sulfide. so, yeah.
thing is, I have never ever known fish to be harmed by it. Can you
imagine? In the wild, if a little bubble of swamp gas killed fish?
I don't know what you are keeping, but the usual aquarium species can take a
little harmful gas.

problem is, fish living in a lake/river are living in billions of gallons of water.

fish living in our tank live in under 200g most of the time

so his analogy about the swamp gas a bit faulty..the level of dilution of toxic byproducts of bacterial metabolism in the wild makes them negligable.

not so in our tanks..

that being said, chances are most of us on this site will never see these problems because we all do regular maintanence of our tanks.

its the people that leave their tanks for months without touching them that are at risk for problem with 'dead pockets' in gravel or sand..

 

[Lupin]

problem is, fish living in a lake/river are living in billions of gallons of water.

fish living in our tank live in under 200g most of the time

so his analogy about the swamp gas a bit faulty..the level of dilution of toxic byproducts of bacterial metabolism in the wild makes them negligable.

not so in our tanks..

that being said, chances are most of us on this site will never see these problems because we all do regular maintanence of our tanks.

its the people that leave their tanks for months without touching them that are at risk for problem with 'dead pockets' in gravel or sand..

My thoughts exactly. There is not much to compare between a large body of water and a glass box. The glass box is under our responsibility. The former is under Mother Nature's care, never mind if human activities often interfere with it.

 

[swede]

and by trying your best to add as much of the natural ecosystem (live plants, snails, etc.) you decrease the odds of having ill effects when pairing this with a good maintenance schedule

 

[lamisxz]

you saved my butt... thanks.. i was going to get sand for my Arowana tank but man you saved my butt!. thanks a ton

 

[bluehairman]

Okay fellas, I emailed this concern to my bio professor I'm doing undergrad research with.

this is his reply :


Hey,
Great question. I have mud on the bottom of most of the tanks in 101,
and in fact, it does trap anaerobic deposits. Sand does a fair job of it
too, especially the fine stuff. Whenever I clean out, or stir, one of
these aquariums, I get a little whiff of hydrogen sulfide. so, yeah.
thing is, I have never ever known fish to be harmed by it. Can you
imagine? In the wild, if a little bubble of swamp gas killed fish?
I don't know what you are keeping, but the usual aquarium species can take a
little harmful gas.

Double thumbs up. Great post!

 

[Lupin]

you saved my butt... thanks.. i was going to get sand for my Arowana tank but man you saved my butt!. thanks a ton

to MFK, Lamisxz.

Please reread the other key points given here. There is no reason to stop you from using sand. If you like sand, go for it.

 

[bigcol]

WOW this thread should be sticky it has lots of usefull info on here now, i was thinking about sand aswell but the pocket thingy put me off now i think i will give it a go as it seems pretty simple. I allready do regular maintenance on all my tanks so sand should never become a problem.

 

[Lupin]

WOW this thread should be sticky it has lots of usefull info on here now, i was thinking about sand aswell but the pocket thingy put me off now i think i will give it a go as it seems pretty simple. I allready do regular maintenance on all my tanks so sand should never become a problem.

This does cover the other types of substrate, not just gravel. There isn't a sticky thread here yet about substrate so I will consider sticking this unless we find a thread that perhaps may exceed the expectations than this.

Keep the opinions and facts pouring, folks.

Edit: Thread title has been changed to avoid perceiving the one sided view. Some people new to the sand would only be ticked off from trying after a first glance on the first post and thread title without reading other points first.

 

[bluehairman]

This does cover the other types of substrate, not just gravel. There isn't a sticky thread here yet about substrate so I will consider sticking this unless we find a thread that perhaps may exceed the expectations than this.

Keep the opinions and facts pouring, folks.

Edit: Thread title has been changed to avoid perceiving the one sided view. Some people new to the sand would only be ticked off from trying after a first glance on the first post and thread title without reading other points first.

Maybe you should use all the gathered information and post a true cons/pros of substrate instead of people having to dig through the huge thread. And then sticky it.