Why not to use sand

[bluehairman]

I don't think oscar are much of the snail eating type. I've never kept snails with my oscar though...

 

[frazzlerock5]

THIS JUST IN!! SAND CAUSES TERMINAL BRAIN CANCER!! PLEASE CONTACT THE CDC IF YOU HAVE SAND IN YOUR TANKS IMMEDIATELY!! ALSO, NEVER GO TO THE BEACH... EVER AGAIN!!

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

I don't think oscar are much of the snail eating type. I've never kept snails with my oscar though...

Well mine try to eat anything I put in the tank so I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to eat a snail.

Basically if it fits in their mouths they try to eat it.

 

[Toby_H]

I've used sand in my several hundred gallons worth of tanks for several years... I rarely stir the sand and it's between 1~3" deep in each tank...

If the gross exagerations presented in many posts of this thread were true then all of my fish would be dead... as opposed to thriving/breeding...

There are right and wrong ways to do just about everything... just because someone did it wrong doesn't mean it doesn't work... it just means the way they did it doesn't work...

To the new person who is interested in using sand in your tank... please take advice from those who have successfully kept sand as a substrate for an extended period... not from the guy who didn't get it right the first time and is now trying to convince the world of false or exagerated information...

 

[wookish]

 

[Lupin]

Ammonia doesn't make sense... It would be converted rather quickly into nitrite. Unless you took a bunch of fish poop and buried at the bottom of the sand...

Sand is heavier than fish poop. That is unlikely to happen.

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.

 

[MonsterMinis]

I just got rid of my fine gravel because it was chewing up my fire eel... atm he's in a bare bottom tank... and I'm still not detered from useing sand. speaking of. Carib-sea sand? it comes in black and white is that eel safe? local petsmart has it cheap. checked out the pool filter sand. wasn't keen on the colors available. but I like the black stuff... only it doesn't say on the bag what it's made of. wanna avoid silica.



Even people that have been in the hobby for almost 20 years and worked for both major US chains, as well as private stores ask questions sometimes.

 

[Lupin]

If you choose sand, you need to put so thin of a layer that it really just covers the bottom of the tank, if its even an inch thick, its WAY too thick. what happens is that the sand traps nitrites/nitrates and if a certain patch of sand is left untouched for too long, upon disturbing it, it can actually create sulfuric acid in your water, instantly dropping your pH to 4 or lower and doing massive damage to your fish (obviously).

Get rid of your sand if you have it too thick, or simply take enough out so that you are only covering the bottom of the glass. The most effective way I've found is to use an 8 foot hose withOUT the big syphon tube on the end of it, and cut the hose at an angle. By cutting it an an angle you not only suck more sand out, but it doesnt get clogged as easily.

It is very common to think that cleaning the "crap" off of the top of the sand is all you need to do. But the filth actually settles into the sand if its thick and it stays there, rotting and creating more ammonia. With that said, some people will stir up the sand and THEN do a water change, thinking that the garbage will be sucked out, but you're actually less likely to get any of the filth out that way. That is why it is better to just suck the sand out, wash it, then put it back.

Could you please tell us how you have figured out the sand can trap nitrite and nitrate? Do you vacuum the organic wastes out of the tank at all? Sand is heavier than the wastes lying around so to say, nitrite/nitrate are trapped in there at all, is practically illogical.

With anaerobic pockets, the anaerobic bacteria break down nitrate into nitrogen gas which is then released back into the atmosphere. The only reason why we do not encourage anaerobic pockets in FW tanks rather than SW tanks, is the fact hydrogen sulfide does form in the process which is a powerful acid that is indeed capable of pH steep dives.

However, your paragraphs above do not find the right solution to counter those predicted problems. What you need to do here, is vacuum all the organic matters out of the tank and try to rake your sand to avoid dead pockets at the bottom. Heck, try to hire the trumpet snails to do the job for you. My trumpet snails aerate the sand for me and I have not had a single issue with my sand.

Believe it or not, sand ends up being MUCH dirtier than gravel and very annoying to clean. Best way to clean it is to syphon the sand into a bucket and actually wash the sand off, then dump it back into the tank. Even then, it should be done every 3 weeks.

Your perception does not share the perception of some of us. I use sand and gravel in all my tanks and the ones in sand are cleaner than the gravel as the organic matter doesn't get trapped among the gravel unlike the sand.

Your suggestions are unfounded and unnecessarily tedious. This is similar to total stripping off the whole tank which gives undue stress to the aquarium inhabitants.

Personally... I'm going back to gravel - very fine gravel, but gravel is DEFINITELY better than sand. If you don't have rays... you don't want sand.

This is your opinion, not a fact to be followed by others. Your choice, their choice. To each, his own. It's as simple as that.

 

[Lupin]

Also, to the first post, sand should also be used for loaches and sensitive catfish. Gravel can sometimes cut their barbels

Not all types of gravel are capable of damaging the barbels. It's not just coarse gravel with sharp edges that is responsible for the barbel damage but high levels of nitrate.

I might remind all of you that personal attacks are not needed. I cleaned this thread up once. Once is enough. Let's show maturity on both sides or else, this will be closed.

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

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.