Is Switching to Sand a Good Idea for my Tank?

MonsterCichlids75 · Aug 12, 2014

Hey guys, so ive been contemplating switching my 100 gal tank to sand from black gravel. Im wondering how dangerous this could be for my filters.. Im running two aqua clear 110's on this tank and the inhabitants include a male convict, a featherfin syno, and a female mayan cichlid that is OBSESSED with digging.. Ive had her since she was 3 inches shes about 9 inches now and has been constantly digging in the gravel since ive had her lol its quite entertaining. My question is with all her digging, will sand get caught in the filters and screw them all up? The intakes are about a foot from the bottom but she really spits around a lot of substrate. What sand would be best (not too fine) so that it wont float around and clog my filters? Thanks everyone!

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carl_d_c · Aug 12, 2014

Sand is harder to clean than gravel, it's much more likely to screw up your filter, although, you can put a sponge pre filter on the intake, and, your fish have been having a good time digging in the gravel. That being said, swimming pool sand would be the way to go. Give it a good rinse, and let it settle down before you turn the filter on.

MonsterCichlids75 · Aug 12, 2014

carl_d_c said:
Sand is harder to clean than gravel, it's much more likely to screw up your filter, although, you can put a sponge pre filter on the intake, and, your fish have been having a good time digging in the gravel. That being said, swimming pool sand would be the way to go. Give it a good rinse, and let it settle down before you turn the filter on.

Oh ok i didnt know that, ive heard a lot if people say they find it easier to clean than gravel because the waste just sits on the too and you can hover the siphon over the sand and suck it up, is this untrue?

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Gill Blue · Aug 12, 2014

the right pool filter sand could work well. switching from sand to gravel at this point may not cause problems, but it could be upsetting to mayan.
use a strong magnifier and make sure the sand is rounded (natural sand), manufacturated sand is sharp.

you do realize you can lift your intakes? with the mayan digging all the time you don't need to worry about detritus getting tossed up. halfway up the tank should eliminate the sand problem and will work just as well pulling stuff in.

duanes · Aug 12, 2014

I find pool filter sand much easier to clean than gravel, and use it in almost all my tanks.
Detritus tends to work its way into gravel because of all the interstitial spaces, but sand tends to keep detritus on its surface, making vacuuming easy, you don't need to push the vac into the substrate with PFS.
Filter sand is heavy, so it can be back washed without substantial overflow loss, and isn't easily stirred up into suspension.
With intakes 1 ft from the substrate, unless sand is spit right into the filter tube, it will quickly sink back to the bottom.
The biggest problem in changing substrate is that your old substrate is thoroughly seeded with beneficial bacteria, and by replacing it with unseeded sand you may be creating a completely new bio cycling situation.

Allan01230 · Aug 12, 2014

I ruined a couple of Ac filters with sand. My Black Shark 18 inches threw it around in my 100 gallon and I would hear a grinding sound then 1 filter was gone so I put a sand filter in which didnt do a very good job then 2 weeks later filter number two gone. I had intakes up pretty high but old sharky loved to throw sand around. I went back to natural gravel so he could throw it around as much as he wants, Iwill never use sand again for me it was a pain in the

poppalina · Aug 12, 2014

Everyone of my tanks has sand, will never use gravel again.

ragin_cajun · Aug 12, 2014

I use sand. Pool filter sand. Waste sits on top of it, super easy to keep clean. It's also a lot cheaper than aquarium substrates. It doesn't get in my filters and I have the intakes about 2-3 inches from the bottom. I like it.

adixon816 · Aug 13, 2014

I also use pool filter sand. Super cheap heavy enough that it sinks right down when fish are moving it and digging. If you rinse it well it will get rid of any of the finer particles. Just keep an eye on your parameters if you switch and be prepared to up your water changes for a bit.

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Is Switching to Sand a Good Idea for my Tank?

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