Hardening Sand

[rba718]

Sup MFK,

I've noticed in small parts of my 40 gallon tank that the sand seems to be "hardening". Is there something wrong with my substrate?

The sand was meant for salt water and was labeled "live sand".

It's a freshwater tank though and all I have in it right now are 3 Convicts, 4 Jewel Cichlids, and 3 Severums.

 

[Tucc185]

anything for saltwater that you can buy as "live sand" is an aragonite based sand collected from beaches and coastline. In FW, this aragonite has a huge buffering capacity and will probably keep your pH and KH way up there. If your tap water (or whatever water you're using for the tank) has a low pH (around 6.5 or lower) the "hardening" you mention may be due to the aragonite particles dissolving and fusing, but i think that would be unusual. The fish you have listed now are tough enough that they should survive in a very high pH, but if you plan on getting more central/south american cichlids you should probably get rid of that sand and get something more appropriate--i.e. anything that is inert and will not affect the pH or buffering capacity of the water.

 

[rba718]

anything for saltwater that you can buy as "live sand" is an aragonite based sand collected from beaches and coastline. In FW, this aragonite has a huge buffering capacity and will probably keep your pH and KH way up there. If your tap water (or whatever water you're using for the tank) has a low pH (around 6.5 or lower) the "hardening" you mention may be due to the aragonite particles dissolving and fusing, but i think that would be unusual. The fish you have listed now are tough enough that they should survive in a very high pH, but if you plan on getting more central/south american cichlids you should probably get rid of that sand and get something more appropriate--i.e. anything that is inert and will not affect the pH or buffering capacity of the water.

That makes a little sense. I had no idea it could cause high PH though. =\

I wanted sand only to make things look nice but if it's going to cause problems I'll just change the substrate then. It's a lot cheaper and more efficient to use gravel anyways.

Is there any safe procedure I should follow to get the sand out? I know I should turn off the filter of course because of the sand. Should I take out all the fish during the change? And would taking out most of the water help or does it matter at all?

 

[Tucc185]

one way I have found that works pretty well for removing sand would be to turn off the filter, get a brine shrimp net (the really fine mesh kind) and just start scooping it out. It's tedious, but it's the only way I know of to get rid of fine sand in a full aquarium. You may want to move the fish into something while you do this so they dont get too stressed. And just to clarify, not all sands are bad for FW, it just depends on what they're made of. Almost all sands marketed for saltwater will effect pH and hardness, but if you do a search in this forum you should find plenty of info on what sands are safe to use. Pool filter sand and estes marine sand are two of the more commonly used types.

 

[mojo2776]

Pool filter sand is a good choice. About $5 for a 50 lb bag at Home Depot.

 

[Dan F]

You could syphon it out. It may take a while, but water-changes are good.

 

[rba718]

one way I have found that works pretty well for removing sand would be to turn off the filter, get a brine shrimp net (the really fine mesh kind) and just start scooping it out. It's tedious, but it's the only way I know of to get rid of fine sand in a full aquarium. You may want to move the fish into something while you do this so they dont get too stressed. And just to clarify, not all sands are bad for FW, it just depends on what they're made of. Almost all sands marketed for saltwater will effect pH and hardness, but if you do a search in this forum you should find plenty of info on what sands are safe to use. Pool filter sand and estes marine sand are two of the more commonly used types.

This sounds like it would probably work. I would have a 20 gallon that's been running but without anything it in for a few days now. (Too lazy to dump the water and clean it out.). I guess I'll keep them all in there.

Hope they don't kill each other. =\