Attention People who have SAND

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
well as i sed earlier, i was planning on doing sand and grvel mixed, i dont want to damage my filters tho so if this is the case i wont use it.
 
Mbuna, I was in your boat a few months ago. I changed a tank from gravel to sand and love it. I used pool filter sand and the weight of the sand and my water pressure when using my "PYTHON" are perfect. I can still push the tube into the sand(for a very short period) and no sand is sucked down the drain. No probs as of yet with my propellers. Only dislike, is I used to have several small plecos in the same tank and their poop would just sit on top. Easy to clean but between water changes the poop made the brightly colored sand look nasty all the time. Needless to say the plecs where moved to a 'darker' tank.
 
Did you read the link that was on my link??? It was really helpful, you only need to sort of stir it up every 3 months and it keeps itself clean.
 
i used to stir my sane every three months but my fish dig so much there is no need
 
ShadowStryder hit the nail on the head. All the same problems I've ever experienced. There are ways around them though, as also said. I've heard of pockets forming, but have never experienced them. I'd guess you would have to be poor at tank maintenance to experience that.
 
Sand only seems to mess up HOB filters opposed to canisters. The water goes thru the impeller first on the HOB whereas on the canisters it's pulled through the media first so it ends up settling at the bottom when it does go in. One day my Jag decided to take all the sand from one side of the tank and pile it up in the corner. Well the corner he was spitting in was the intake to my Fluval FX-5. He spit a ton of sand into it before I noticed what was going on and it's fine no problems at all.
 
I've only experienced air pockets in one of my tanks, and it's because my convicts will pile it very deep in certain areas. If I sift my hands through it when I vacuum once a week, the large gas bubbles are released and no problem. I could see how it could become a problem long-term if you didn't do your maintenance though, like everyone above has said.

Despite all of the risks to filters, impaction, etc. I LOVE using sand in my tanks. It not only looks better than gravel but the detritus stays on top rather than burrowing within the substrate like it does with gravel. If you have fish who make a lot of waste, sand is the way to go IMO because it's so much easier to clean. And I still use HOB filters but I just make sure the intake is at least 8 inches higher than the sand level.
 
I meant to add, sand and gravel mixed might not work in the long run. Over time the two types of substrate will settle into two separate layers.
 
balton777;1489885; said:
Sand only seems to mess up HOB filters opposed to canisters. The water goes thru the impeller first on the HOB whereas on the canisters it's pulled through the media first so it ends up settling at the bottom when it does go in. One day my Jag decided to take all the sand from one side of the tank and pile it up in the corner. Well the corner he was spitting in was the intake to my Fluval FX-5. He spit a ton of sand into it before I noticed what was going on and it's fine no problems at all.
Click to expand...

This is true, HOB with the impeller sitting on bottom in the base of HOB the sand travels through and settles in the bottom where impeller rest. Therefore it constantly is lifted and grinds on the magnets and the metal rod thus wearing them down.
Where as the canister the impeller is on top thus alowing the sand to flow through and settling in the canister itself. So if you use canisters this would be a no issue.

As for as vacuuming sand I have so much water pressure that most of mine gets sucked immediately down the drain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom