ya im going to finish setting up the tank, and cycling it for at least 3-4 days and then ill add fish
How do you clean your sand?
- Thread starter franchise513
- Start date
i use to syphon it off daily into a bucket and all that... now i just move the wood around so that the current keeps it stired up.. also the sixbillion or so snails are doing a great job of keeping the tank clean for me
franchise513;2329078; said:
Get a test kit and do it right....3-4 days will not cycle your tank...get away from the getting fish thinking until the water perameters are correct...
Sorry there sport, you were the one talking cycling your tank for 3-4 days...I mean c'mon you're asking how to rinse your sand and if you put it in first or the water first...you came off like a total noob so I was just trying to give you some friendly help...franchise513;2329735; said:
Franchise513, Zennzzo is right. It takes about a month (give or take) to cycle a tank with ammonia. How were you going to cycle it? Do you have established filters you were going to put on the tank? If you've got mature filters then you should be good to go (with testing).
i did the whole sand thing wasint to impressed by it i tryed cycling my tank anf the damn floting debri killed my filter
Well if you use playsand, certain kinds of pool sand or concrete mixing sand it's a whole 'nother messy ballgame. I use 3M ColorQuartz sand or hrh pool filter sand (already super clean but too white for my tastes). I've tried all those other kinds and it was a mess.
Avoid playsand at all costs if you can. Pool filter sand is cheap, 100 times easier to clean and looks great. I have converted 4 of my tanks using this stuff and have it down IMO pretty well. Here is what I do and I never end up with cloudy water....
1) Get a square or rectangle rubbermaid tub from "fail-mart" approx 5 gallon. Pour in 5" of sand and blast it outside with the hose nozzle on jet or a similar setting for 1 minute moving the flow of water around.
2) Quickly dump the water over the edge of the tub, blast, dumpt it again, and repeat 5-6 times... Dump it quickly so you pick up the small particles floating, you will waste a very small amount of good sand but that is the point. (That crap could cloud your water/clog a filter anyway) Empty the tub of sand into a clean, 5 gallon bucket.
3) When adding the sand to the tank, add 10% water volume of the size of the tank, assuming you started with an empty tank. This helps spread it evenly and will catch any floaters you missed in cleaning. When all of the sand is added, syphon the water out down to the toip layer of sand and replace with fresh water. Give it two hours and THEN turn on your filtration.
No cloudy water at all. Just make sure if you use a Python to syphon your tank, you add a 250 micron bag aroung the faucet. Otherwise those sand particles can clog your drain.
1) Get a square or rectangle rubbermaid tub from "fail-mart" approx 5 gallon. Pour in 5" of sand and blast it outside with the hose nozzle on jet or a similar setting for 1 minute moving the flow of water around.
2) Quickly dump the water over the edge of the tub, blast, dumpt it again, and repeat 5-6 times... Dump it quickly so you pick up the small particles floating, you will waste a very small amount of good sand but that is the point. (That crap could cloud your water/clog a filter anyway) Empty the tub of sand into a clean, 5 gallon bucket.
3) When adding the sand to the tank, add 10% water volume of the size of the tank, assuming you started with an empty tank. This helps spread it evenly and will catch any floaters you missed in cleaning. When all of the sand is added, syphon the water out down to the toip layer of sand and replace with fresh water. Give it two hours and THEN turn on your filtration.
No cloudy water at all. Just make sure if you use a Python to syphon your tank, you add a 250 micron bag aroung the faucet. Otherwise those sand particles can clog your drain.
