Once you go sand, you don't go back!

[dragonfish]

Much prefer the sand look but probably will not do light colored sand again. Especially with wood and royal plecos.

 

[Moontanman]

what exactly do you mean we are not communicating well?
instead of mixing with the substrate like it does with gravel, it sits on top. which makes it look dirty, its not hard to understand. and i would have had to vac everyday to keep it clean, ie not dirty looking. i also had problems with my large plec at the time digging right nest to a filter intake, which concerned me a little but it did no damage.
when its clean it looks better, without a doubt, but keeping it poop free on the surface is no easy task when you have big poopers.

I use MTS, they turn the sand over and keep the poo buried and help the plants. Keeps the sand from going anoxic as well. I guess the devil is in the details.

 

[mach_six]

Why is there a need to vacuum sand? I just set up a tank use pool filter sand recently. In the distant past I've used Estes sand crap that's too fine and will stir up though I never recalled that being dirty. I also used Carribean sand for my S/W tank and that got dirty underneath with some growth but I read you don't vacuum it.

Pool filter sand is heavier and use for pool filters so that crap has to be heavier to not float. I am under the impression sand doesn't trap food and have not seen any thing from their crap to food being trapped in sand.

How about showing a picture of what you mean by dirty?

 

[Kobeclone]

Why is there a need to vacuum sand? I just set up a tank use pool filter sand recently. In the distant past I've used Estes sand crap that's too fine and will stir up though I never recalled that being dirty. I also used Carribean sand for my S/W tank and that got dirty underneath with some growth but I read you don't vacuum it.

Pool filter sand is heavier and use for pool filters so that crap has to be heavier to not float. I am under the impression sand doesn't trap food and have not seen any thing from their crap to food being trapped in sand.

How about showing a picture of what you mean by dirty?

It does get dirty fairly fast, I must admit. I can not get a good picture of the poop, or I would post it. I have a 210 with only a 9 inch pleco and a 5 inch LMB, and 4 days after a gravel vac, the amount of poo is astounding...

 

[SteveR]

Isnt there problems regarding anaerobic bacteria growing under it? Do you have to constantly "shuffle the sand" to reduce this effect. I always wanted sand but this stuff - no idea if its true, puts me off

 

[Kobeclone]

Isnt there problems regarding anaerobic bacteria growing under it? Do you have to constantly "shuffle the sand" to reduce this effect. I always wanted sand but this stuff - no idea if its true, puts me off

Only if poop gets under the sand bed. You don't have to shuffle the sand if it is not being stirred up by fish already. If fish don't stir it up, poop just rests up top on the sand....

 

[Moontanman]

Isnt there problems regarding anaerobic bacteria growing under it? Do you have to constantly "shuffle the sand" to reduce this effect. I always wanted sand but this stuff - no idea if its true, puts me off

In a nut shell, no. Anaerobic spots are demonised far beyond their real effects. Lots of growing plants and MTS will prevent anaerobic spots to begin with but even if you get them it's not a problem. I use a special soil mix under my sand and bubbles of gas come up through the sand regularly an the fish do not mind at all. I collect fish from waters with beds of anaerobic material so dense that when i step in I often go up to my waste in the rotten plant material and huge masses of bubbles come up full of hydrogen sulfide and every other noxious gas you can name and the fish actually swim into these cloud of material to eat! a tank where a bubble comes up ever once in a while is not big deal. If it really worries you just make sure you haver plenty of MTS, dwarf crayfish, black worms and other sand stirrers in your tank. I think there is a problem here in the idea of poo. Detritus naturally sits on top of sand and it's not a big deal, fish actually like it and it contains lots of micro organisms that small fish can eat. BUT as I said MTS will drag it under the sand and eat it. Plants use it as fertilizer. It's completely natural. If you want an unnatural polished plate glass parlor i suggest the use of bare bottoms and lots of filtration. Oh yeah, if you use gravel so the poo doesn't sit on top of the substrate think of where it is going. It's simply settling between the gravel grains and rotting. in my experience the only time I've really had a problem with anaerobic areas in my substrate was with gravel.

 

[duanes]

I personally find sand to be far superior to gravel for growing plants, and also use Malay trumpet snails that keep it from going anerobic, and only occasionally need to seriously vacum. I vacum once per every 3-4 water changes.

I think the problem with clogging filters comes when using play sand, very dusty. I use pool/filter sand and never have a problem because it is too heavy to cloud up much. The pic is a ph/cam from one of my planted sumps.
Below is a different sump.

 

[Bubbles0815]

I am getting a 55 gal this weekend. I would love to put sand down. I like the black sand I saw at Petsmart today but it seems so fine. Reading this thread seems like pool sand is ideal, anyone know how successful the sand at the petstore is?

 

[Moontanman]

I am getting a 55 gal this weekend. I would love to put sand down. I like the black sand I saw at Petsmart today but it seems so fine. Reading this thread seems like pool sand is ideal, anyone know how successful the sand at the petstore is?

What type of sand are you talking about? My fav is Tahitian moon sand, very black and very fine. wonderful sand, makes fishes color darker and more intense. Heavy enough not to be easily stirred up.