Media: Sand vs. Gravel

[vietmanx]

yea, i was thinking instead of some sort of instrument to stir the sand, i thot about some khuli loaches, or something else that burrows

 

[Fishman0]

Any bottom dwellers or snails out their that wont be a P.Bass's meal

 

[Toby_H]

You can use Malaysian trumpet snails if your fish don't eat them; they're pretty hard, so most fish leave them alone. Honestly I think the importance of stirring sand is vastly overstated.

I agree wholeheartedly with both points in the above quote…

48" X 18" X 2" = 4' X 1.5' X 1/6' ~ 1 cubic ft.

and going off what i have read for the density of sand is roughly 90 to 99lbs/cubic ft. (of course depending on grain size, compaction, humidity, etc...)

so i would need about 100lbs of sand

Working in the field of Construction Materials Testing… I know that the weight of sand varies considerably… also sand that is consistently larger grained (such as Pool Filter Sand) will be slightly lighter than similar sized sands that have fines to fill the gaps… Not that this really matters, but I thought the engineer in you may appreciate the details

Google : Sand Calculator and you will find calculators designed to answer your question… They suggest 75 lbs of sand, which is consistent with my personal experience ;-)

I would like to add that although I do not feel that 2” deep sand beds are a “problem” I also see no value in going more than 1” depth…

yea, i was thinking instead of some sort of instrument to stir the sand, i that about some khuli loaches, or something else that burrows

It really depends on what you plan to stock the tank with and how you set up décor…

As mentioned above, having used sand for quite a few years on quite a few tanks… I sincerely feel that “stirring the sand” is highly over emphasized. Although I scientifically understand there is a possibility of “toxic gases” building up… A) it isn’t likely & B) if they do, there is a small chance of them actually polluting the water…

But that said, there is still nothing wrong with looking for protection from this small possible danger…

Trumpet Snails will borrow to hide from fish thus stirring the sand. Many Cichlids will eat them (some crush shells some ‘suck’ the snail out), but I’ve yet to have a stocklist that could remove “all” the snails from a tank.

If you have a few areas with piles of rocks that the Khuli Loaches can fit into but the Cichlids cannot, they may work. Although they are likely to spend their time in the rocks and not stir the sand elsewhere…

Geophagus means “Sand Sifter” in Latin… if they can be part of your stocklist they work great.

Most Cichlids dig, which will stir at least some areas. With everything listed here there will be areas that are left “unturned”… with the snails offering the most consistent stirring…

 

[Fishman0]

Thanks for the input nutcase. I ended up with about a 1" bed of sand and did not use the whole 100lbs.

I may go with the Geo's but was considering larger loaches but have never kept them.

What do geo's eat?

 

[Toby_H]

I feed mine sinking Cichlid pellets...

 

[Rusty Gilbert]

ive had gravel for years now. but a buddy of mine had sand and said everytime he did a water change hed have tons of sand in his bathtub so he went back to gravel

 

[Fishman0]

Yeah I think i may get a few geo's for the tank.

I siphoned the waste with air line tubing and it only picked up anout a teaspoon worth of sand when I wasnt careful. It was a decent amount of waste as my pleco just craps constantly. I fugured it wasnt time for a water change and just wanted to clean up the tank so i didnt drain more than a gallon with that air line.

Im going to try the largest Python i can find.... the sand settles very quickly so my hypothesis is, the larger the vacuum barrel the better, right?

 

[FSM]

ive had gravel for years now. but a buddy of mine had sand and said everytime he did a water change hed have tons of sand in his bathtub so he went back to gravel

Stick the output of the siphon hose in a bucket...that was easy.

 

[Toby_H]

ive had gravel for years now. but a buddy of mine had sand and said everytime he did a water change hed have tons of sand in his bathtub so he went back to gravel

Just because the user didn't do something right, this should not be blamed on the product...

We call this User Error...

I've gotten pretty darn good at siphoning tanks with sand using a 3/4" hose and not removing much sand at all...

FSM made a great suggestion about siphoning into a bucket and allowing the bocket to overflow...'

Personally, I think it's pretty gross to siphon poop into the bathtub and would suggest doing so in the toilet if you aren't going to let the water be useful (by using it in the garden or yard).

I have heard of people using a "gravel vac" on the end of their siphon hose to reduce/prevent sand from being removed... I know I tried it a number of years ago and decided not to continue the practice, but I honestly don't remember what I didn't like about it...

 

[thor meeki]

I know it's off topic but w/o a gravel vac on the end of your siphon hose.How do you get the siphon started?

P.S. love the over all look & attributes of sand.Would like to switch, it's just not in the cards rite now.