changing sand

[Nim Dibbley]

Hey poly keepers. When i started my 240 gallon tank i added about 150 pounds of light colored play sand. i have since discovered polys and wanted to change the color of the sand in the tank, but it seems like such a task to pull all the old sand out and add new sand so i've held off...

Fast forward four years. I just had a friend give me about 30 pounds of "black beauty sand" she wasnt going to use. I was thinking maybe i should just add it to the light colored sand i have to make it darker overall. Do you guys think that would make the colors on the polys look better? or should i just wait until i get around to finding some garnet sand or more black sand? if i wait there is a chance it may go unchanged for another four years or more

 

[Nim Dibbley]

here is what the current sand looks like

 

[Dr.B]

I would probably wait. With only 30 pounds of it and 150 pounds of white. The white would still greatly affect the polys coloring. The black would also eventually get consumed by the white sand just because of how much more of the white sand there is. As far as getting it out I will admit having done it numerous times it is a bit tedious, but switching from a different color subtsrate always gets me excited, because it's like getting new fish. Seeing all the fish you've had for years change before your eyes almost over night. Something that is IMO quite remarkable.

 

[Durrells]

The answer, once you get more of the black sand, is to siphon out the white (might take a few water changes) and then add the black in via a length of PVC tube reaching the bottom of the tank. This method has several merits, the foremost of which is that it will keep the dust down and eliminate the need for the water to settle. The other is that there is no danger of harming your fish in any way whatsoever. Unless you have a ton of bio filtration though, be careful of switching out that much substrate at once. You may end up getting a bacteria bloom because of all the new bio space.

 

[Nim Dibbley]

Thanks for the replies. I like the idea of using PVC to get it to the bottom of the tank. and yeah, i guess i should probably wait until i get more of it.

 

[Askaleymanfish]

I have also done it many times ... Very annoying .... But the siphoning thing does work well unless u have heavy sand that doesn't stir very easy.... I have personally tried the white/black sand mix..... It does not work like u r hoping .... Not well at all ...... Also I will note ..... The blak sand will only make ur bichirs nice colored if they r of the upper jawed species .... Iv had many Lower jaws and all of them looked terrible with black sand but makes upper jaws look awesome ..... Now if u have lower jaw species I would suggest something red ... Either garnet sand or if u can find it just pure red sand that is larger grained mixed with black sand
(This is for lj species only) The good mixes I have found is 80% red 20% black or 70% red 30% black
Anything more or less that that will either make them to dark or to light but those percentages are awesome
I have also heard ppl adding some tan sand mixed in with their red/black mix and it working well
Keep in mind I have 2 uj (ornate) and (del) and neither look great on the red/black mix but looked awesome on black ...... Hope this helps ur decision

 

[Nim Dibbley]

I have also done it many times ... Very annoying .... But the siphoning thing does work well unless u have heavy sand that doesn't stir very easy.... I have personally tried the white/black sand mix..... It does not work like u r hoping .... Not well at all ...... Also I will note ..... The blak sand will only make ur bichirs nice colored if they r of the upper jawed species .... Iv had many Lower jaws and all of them looked terrible with black sand but makes upper jaws look awesome ..... Now if u have lower jaw species I would suggest something red ... Either garnet sand or if u can find it just pure red sand that is larger grained mixed with black sand
(This is for lj species only) The good mixes I have found is 80% red 20% black or 70% red 30% black
Anything more or less that that will either make them to dark or to light but those percentages are awesome
I have also heard ppl adding some tan sand mixed in with their red/black mix and it working well
Keep in mind I have 2 uj (ornate) and (del) and neither look great on the red/black mix but looked awesome on black ...... Hope this helps ur decision

thanks. currently i have 2 teugs, 2 ornates, 2 weeksii and a lap. the lap has no color on this sand. the other bichirs all look good, but would probably look better on black.

i did however have another lap i sold on CL a few months ago. the new owner posted a pic on MFK and that lap looked great on his black sand.

I will probably end up selling the lap at some point and just stick with the upper jaws i have.

 

[the lion who ate the sun]

I have 100% garnet in the 300 right now. Just added all my polys last weekend. I'm really disappointed with the results. My lj's all washed out :/

I need to add some black I guess. Anyone ever mixed sand in an established tank? Seems like its going to be tough, especially considering the footprint :/

 

[Nim Dibbley]

I have 100% garnet in the 300 right now. Just added all my polys last weekend. I'm really disappointed with the results. My lj's all washed out :/

I need to add some black I guess. Anyone ever mixed sand in an established tank? Seems like its going to be tough, especially considering the footprint :/

ive hated my sand for four years or so. if you get around to it you're more motivated than me!

if you get around to it, do as the poster above said. use a pvc pipe to get it to the bottom of the tank. and everyone on here talks about mixing garnet and black sand for best results.

 

[Askaleymanfish]

If u r stickin to uj go black man ..... And lion.... Iv heard several ppl say that bichirs on garnet sand will take awhile to color up like they should to it .... Frank told me once that one of his nicest ansorgiis took months to look on it ... Be patient