New to Rope Fish - help on set up

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
The sand went rancid? Never heard of that but I've not heard of everything. I use pool filter sand rinses clean quickly and looks pretty good and is cheep.
The other news is good glad it wasn't a total loss. Got babies too! That's cool. Glad you and Beamer are getting along well.
 
twentyleagues said:
The sand went rancid? Never heard of that but I've not heard of everything. I use pool filter sand rinses clean quickly and looks pretty good and is cheep.
The other news is good glad it wasn't a total loss. Got babies too! That's cool. Glad you and Beamer are getting along well.
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The sand I got was reptile / fish sand and it was 2-3 inches thick. It went bad 3 week after i put it in. It smelled like sewage in half the house and when I was scooping the sand out, nearly knocked me out a couple times. I asked on a forum on here about it and the conclusion was wrong sand and too thick. I'll get pool sand next time and make sure it's no more than an inch thick. It was horrible. My readings are perfect now but because of the 2 old filters, has an odor and slightly cloudy. When I get the 75g I'll cycle it first with new filters then transfer them over. If it weren't for the monster pompon and fry, I would have moved them back to the 10g and re set the 30g. First time in 30+yrs I experienced something like that lol hard lesson learned for sure.
 
Mighty Wizard said:
Sand snails will prevent such problems. They constantly move about beneath the sand, aerating it to prevent co2 build-up, and they will eat leftover food, algae, and dead plant matter.
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I was actually trying to Google best snails for that purpose but never found anything. Are there specific kinds or are they called sand snails?
 
Looking good! Any deep sand will get problems, I keep mine under an inch and usually stir it up before WC to get all the debris in the water to be sucked out :)
 
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bottomdweller72 said:
I was actually trying to Google best snails for that purpose but never found anything. Are there specific kinds or are they called sand snails?
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Black diamond sandblasting abrasive works and is cheap too. The problem with any sand size substrate is if it isn't churned regularly by either you, fish, or snails then it does become toxic. The best snails I have found for this purpose are malaysian trumpet snails. I also use the gravel vac on the sand to mix it up
 
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Dead organic matter will accumulate over time in the sand, creating a rather toxic environment if left stagnant. This goes for all types of sand as well as for gravel, to a lesser extent. Finer grained and heavy sand gets compacted faster.

The sand snail species I keep are Thiara winterii and Thiara scabra, as well as Melanoides tuberculata. I find Thiara species to be somewhat more effective than MTS, although they reproduce more slowly. They look interesting as well.

I have 1-3 inches of sand in my tanks, and i never have a problem, as they all have snails.
 
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