Any advice on how to switch to sand?

[Lissaspence]

Hi Everyone! I'm in the process of switching my 130 gal from gravel and river rock to sand. I alread bought pool filter sand and started to try to rinse it. This is not an easy task! Do any of you have any tips to make this easier? Right now I'm just sticking the sand in a bucket, filling the bucket with water, working my hands through it to make sure I'm getting it all clean and then dumping out as much water as possible. I'm not going to be able to get all the water out so some will end up in my tank. That being said I should add some water conditioner as soon as I get all the sand in to account for the water in the bottom of the bucket right?

Also I know your supposed to turn the filters off when you put the sand in so it's not sucked up in the filters. How long should I leave them off, till the waters clear or just till all the larger particals have settled? How highly recomended are pre-filters? I have some power heads in there for water movement also. Should they have pre-filters as well?

Anything else I missed that might be important?

 

[greenterra]

Answerewd in red.

Hi Everyone! I'm in the process of switching my 130 gal from gravel and river rock to sand. I alread bought pool filter sand and started to try to rinse it. This is not an easy task! Do any of you have any tips to make this easier? Right now I'm just sticking the sand in a bucket, filling the bucket with water, working my hands through it to make sure I'm getting it all clean and then dumping out as much water as possible. I'm not going to be able to get all the water out so some will end up in my tank. That being said I should add some water conditioner as soon as I get all the sand in to account for the water in the bottom of the bucket right? That's pretty much the process.The more you clean it now the less it will cloud your water

Also I know your supposed to turn the filters off when you put the sand in so it's not sucked up in the filters. How long should I leave them off, till the waters clear or just till all the larger particals have settled? Just until the grains have settled. make sure you run your pickups for the filters higher than usual. I usually run them just under half way.
How highly recomended are pre-filters? I have some power heads in there for water movement also. Should they have pre-filters as well? Not a must. Powerheads seem to just spit it through should it suck any in and with your returns a little higher less sand is sucked up to start with.

Anything else I missed that might be important?

 

[Lissaspence]

Cool. Thank you so much for the help!

 

[TwistedPenguin]

There's also a ton of good bacteria on the substrate that you're taking out. Not a huge deal but just be aware of it and maybe test and do an extra water change this week if need be. Sometimes it can cause a mini-cycle when you switch substrates. Good luck, you'll like sand much better.

 

[lach]

what type of pool filter sand?
i switched to mostly silica sand it has larger particles than general river or beach sand
tends to be disturbed less/sink faster never had a problem with picking it up in my eheim canister and its intake is almost on the bottom of the tank

 

[swede]

go for black sand

 

[chesterthehero]

There's also a ton of good bacteria on the substrate that you're taking out. Not a huge deal but just be aware of it and maybe test and do an extra water change this week if need be. Sometimes it can cause a mini-cycle when you switch substrates. Good luck, you'll like sand much better.

its a bit more work but if you just add the sand to the gravel you can then wait a week or three then use a colander to pull the gravel out..
its a reai pain but i seperated 50lbs of gravel from 100lbs of sand in about 30 minutes..

 

[Lissaspence]

There's also a ton of good bacteria on the substrate that you're taking out. Not a huge deal but just be aware of it and maybe test and do an extra water change this week if need be. Sometimes it can cause a mini-cycle when you switch substrates. Good luck, you'll like sand much better.

Thanks I wouldn't have thought of that!

what type of pool filter sand?
i switched to mostly silica sand it has larger particles than general river or beach sand
tends to be disturbed less/sink faster never had a problem with picking it up in my eheim canister and its intake is almost on the bottom of the tank

I'm not sure what kind I got. I'll have to look when I get home. My cousin works at a pool store so I just told him to order me some pool filter sand. Got a pretty good discount so I can't be too picky. I know it says on the bag that it's fine though so if your saying yours is large partical it's probably a different kind. I thought all pool filter sand was supposed to be smaller grains than the river or beach sand. That is why I got it. I thought it would look and feel nicer.

go for black sand

It's in my basement and I keep the lights kinda low since most my fish are catfish. So I went the opposite direction and got some that was really light, almost white. I'll have to post before and after pics. My husband picked out the gravel in there right now and it's hideous! I think he couldn't make up his mind so he picked a little bit of everything. He had purple, white and black gravel mixed together and then brown river rocks on top of that.

its a bit more work but if you just add the sand to the gravel you can then wait a week or three then use a colander to pull the gravel out..
its a reai pain but i seperated 50lbs of gravel from 100lbs of sand in about 30 minutes..

Since everything else is staying the same I don't think that will be necessary. This is going to be a intresting process as it is without making more work for myself!

Thanks again for all your input everyone!

 

[swede]

My husband picked out the gravel in there right now and it's hideous! I think he couldn't make up his mind so he picked a little bit of everything. He had purple, white and black gravel mixed together and then brown river rocks on top of that.

 

[Lissaspence]

Well...I got all the gravel out. It was so dirty!!! I'm waiting for everything to filter and settle before I put in the sand.