Why not to use sand

[BarroomHero]

So how often do you need to take out all decor and stir the sand under it? And I have eggcrate under my sand, I cant stir the sand that is trapped in the egg crate.

I stir the sand a few times a week, and I take out all the rocks and decor probably once a month to clean under it and stir everything up. I havent noticed any ill effects, no sulfur smell, do ph drops etc. There isnt a whole lot of sand under the rocks/decor, maybe 1/2", because I make sure to push everything down through the sand so that it is resting directly on top of the egg crate.

 

[bluehairman]

Do I need to post links that show how the smallest gravel is larger that the largest sand particles in commonly sold bags of each?

Obvious? To some I guess, when they're wrong.

I always thought of gravel as small rocks, about half or 1/4 the size of regular gravel.

So how often do you need to take out all decor and stir the sand under it? And I have eggcrate under my sand, I cant stir the sand that is trapped in the egg crate.

I stir the sand a few times a week, and I take out all the rocks and decor probably once a month to clean under it and stir everything up. I havent noticed any ill effects, no sulfur smell, do ph drops etc.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just keep taking care of your tank and you'll be fine.

 

[Toby_H]

So how often do you need to take out all decor and stir the sand under it? And I have eggcrate under my sand, I cant stir the sand that is trapped in the egg crate.

My Cichlids pick at and disturb the sand bed... I move some areas around when I do weekly water changes... but I do not remove decor or move sand around that is not easy to get to unless I am moving the tank... Which is once every 1~2 years... I've never had a problem with "sulfuric acid" or "toxic gases" building up in my tanks... nor have I ever had any bubbles come out of the sand when I disturbed it...

Personally, I think people who are otherwise failing to keep their tanks healthy are blaming their mistakes on the sand... and other's are exaggerating the maintenance of sand creating undue concerns in beginners...

Do I need to post links that show how the smallest gravel is larger that the largest sand particles in commonly sold bags of each?

When we say "sand" or "gravel" we are speaking in generic terms. Coming from a Geotechnical Engineering background, you would be shocked to realize (technically/scientifically speaking) how large of a grain size they consider something to still be a sand... the term gravel is not used, instead it is pebbles... But basically per Geotechnical Engineers & the related scientific community, aquarium gravel is approximately the transition point between sand and pebbles...

Not that any of that matters in practical application... but nor does the debate if fine gravel is smaller than large sand... debating terminology is simply a way to distract ourselves from the point at hand

 

[EVAN YUNCK]

So the info is hear say at best. I think it would be great if you could get sand to trap nitrates, could make a heck of a filter.

THEY DO MAKE FILTERS USING SAND AS THE MEDIA

 

[bluehairman]

THEY DO MAKE FILTERS USING SAND AS THE MEDIA

They use gravel... I never heard of sand, I can't imagine how that would work well, it would all settle at the bottom

 

[12 Volt Man]

they make filters that have sand in them, but not commonly for aquariums

eg. I am a wastewater treatment plant operator and we have massive filters filled with anthracite (carbon) and sand.

tons of it. literally.

also most pool filters use sand as media.

 

[VLDesign]

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.

 

[Ali1]

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 negligible.

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..

Good point, but the issue is he has nothing bigger than 10G tanks in his lab. I would imagine he would be at greater risk since he's got such small volume of water. In addition to what was said, his mud would have a higher chance of trapping these gases than our sand would. I'm not convinced that the trapped gasses may harm our fish.

 

[Jgray152]

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.

Might be billions of gallons of water but also think of the, some times, square miles of muddy/sandy substrate and all the plants and junk that has biodegraded into the soil and how often the soil gets disturbed by fish and other wildlife.

Anyone ever hear of someones fish dieing because of this? The bubbles of this sulfide probably don't mix with the water as much as people think as my guess is 99% of it is released at the waters surface. They very little bit of water in the sand/soil with only very little areas that may contain the sulfide gas that may be dissolved in the water, will get released eventually and probably is not enough to dilute the water enough to harm the fish.

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..

Really? I am one of those that leave the tanks for months. 4-6 months sometimes. I never have seen an issue. All this paranoid assumptions just being fear into peoples minds. In fact, I "personally" disturb the sand maybe once or twice a year. The fish may disturb it now and then. I have never had a problem.

 

[Toby_H]

They use gravel... I never heard of sand, I can't imagine how that would work well, it would all settle at the bottom

Google "Sand Filter"... there are dozens of different versions for quite a few different purposes