switched from gravel to sand

[wcc963]

so i decided that i liked sand over gravel. so went out and spent a whopping $11 on 100lbs of pool filter sand at home depot... spent about an hour scooping gravel out while the sand was being cleaned. then added the sand and set up a system that siphoned water out as fresh water was pumped in... took about 10min to go from cloudy to crystal clear. im very happy with the results

im watching water parameters to see if the tank goes back into cycling, but i added a sponge filter from a cycled tank and stress zyme + so i think it should be ok til the BB builds back up

Before:

Water clearing system. water out to the left and water in from the right (no fish yet)

finished added more plants too

 

[cullens089]

looks good man, glad you like the pool filter sand i got it in 2 of my tanks

 

[Zfishies]

Shoulda done half gravel (on driftwood side) and half sand. But still good lookin tank

 

[NWatson]

I like the look of sand but like the natural gravel a little finer then yours and a little thiner more. Also for the fish I keep or the main reason I think natural look better is the fish I keep. You took some care placing the plants in the EXACT or close to same spot. Looks good......what fish are you keeping? Also It depends on what your keeping but I like darker colors is general more. Rays or earth eaters I would go sand as well. Tank looks good.

 

[situs]

Sand base look soothing and nicer, thumns upz for the lovely setup

 

[mike1987]

i have heard from someone that the pool sand is bad, it slices the fish when they swim on it ? the guy was explaing to me its kills slugs and stuff when they try to go across it , and it wil happen to my fish? he said if they tend to eat off the bittom they will die if they eat some of it. this true i love the look of it so much. and to the OP I LOVE ur tank set up. real or fake plants?

 

[wcc963]

what fish are you keeping?

im hopfully going to build a 300 (70"x40"x25") within the next 2 years

the stock is not complete yet but the final stock im aiming for is
Already have:
-senegal bichir
-true common pleco (as far as i can tell)

still to come:
-Black Ghost knife
-2x Delhezi Bichir
-florida gar (not til i atleast start the 300)
-Lima shovel nose (not til i atleast start the 300)

 

[wcc963]

i have heard from someone that the pool sand is bad, it slices the fish when they swim on it ? the guy was explaing to me its kills slugs and stuff when they try to go across it , and it wil happen to my fish? he said if they tend to eat off the bittom they will die if they eat some of it. this true i love the look of it so much. and to the OP I LOVE ur tank set up. real or fake plants?

fake plants... i've actually added more since those pics were taken and i want to add some floating plants as well. and I re-did my bubble setup along the back. I'll post pics in a bit

i went with fake just for ease of care and being able to change the look and plants at any time without much work. i can always go real later... will be doing live on my 10g in the near future

 

[mike1987]

sweet, i will be on the hunt for some good fake plants. they look great i love the tank, i also want a black ghost knife. but i dont have fish that will be nice to it

 

[jpwolf]

I had sand in my 90 gal but my GTs destroyed the tank when they payed eggs plants got dug up and all the sand was being pushed to 1 corner. Tank looked like a disaster after they were done with it so I went back to gravel.