making the switch from sand to pea gravel

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dbcb314

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jun 4, 2007
2,311
20
68
Tallahassee
The sand is starting to piss me off.

I think some got kicked up into my HOB filter and now it gets really loud everyonce in a while. I tried cleaning it to get the sand out but no dice.

poop just stays on the top... makes it kinda easy to clean, but it is waaaaaaay to easy to see. like 2 days after vac it it looks dirty again.

the fish are moving around too much and kicking it up and making my water look cloudy. I have a 50 gallon at my parents house where the water is great and i rarely change the water or anything bc im never there. i have a ten gallon that the water is great. but my real tank, my 75, looks cloudy. only difference? it has sand.


so i think i am going ot make the change to pea gravel. its just a cheap, i won't have to vac as much (but when i do it will be harder), and it wont get kicked up into the air when my bichirs decide to tussel or when my rope fish goes nutso.

so questions are...

1. what is the best way to make the switch? i woudl assume just siphon all the sand. and then add the gravel? what do i do with teh fish? i have ropefish, sen bichirs, aftrican knife fish, african butterfly fish, and leopard ctenopoma.

2. hwo do you like the look of gravel? i like sand look.. but its too much of a pain
 
I scooped mine out with a plastic dustpan. Then used a python to get the corners. I switched from play sand to pool filter sand too, its much heavier and stays put. I like gravel but sand looks more natural IMO. Either way I think youll be fine.
 
that makes three of us. i switch from play sand to PFS, whats wrong with us, why didnt we just go that route!!! in the first place, lolo
 
why not just mix in some black t-grade 3M colorquart? that will make it not look as dirty all the time or at all or you could siphon all your old sand out and put black or another dark sand in. I will never have gravel in a tank again. I like sand SO much better.
 
ok prolly just scoop it until it gets low then siphon

why does it trap so much waste? isn't just like any other gravel?

i dont mind takign to the time to vacuum... i just don't wanna do it every few days like i have to do the sand (and it still isnt' clean)
 
But why hide the waste? almost every morning and every time i come home from work i use my smallest cyhpon and a five gallon bucket to suck the poo out. Honestly in my opinion if you are a true fish lover you would take the time "every few days" and cyphon there poop out.

your just going to be hiding waste as it doesnt need to be there....

but i know play sand does stink!!!! especially when your fish love to spit it right in your intakes!!!! lol thats why i stopped using it, lol.

I think in my opinion you should forget the pea gravel and go get yourself some POOOL FILTER SAAAND!!! highly recommended from a proffesional like my self. not!!
 
I don't want to siphon every day because in order to get into my tank to siphon I have to take my filter off and take my canopy off.

there was a couple design flaws in my canopy. My dad measured the "door" using his arms. mine are about about 4 inches bigger lol. I can't get my arm all the way in there. also, the way the HOB filter hangs on, it has to be taken off to get the canopy off.

HUGE pain in the ass to do every day.


also, I love keeping fish. I hate siphoning poop.

pool filter sand is too expensive... plus its too "white" for my taste
 
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