Sand or gravel? Help me out please

[da_squid]

I'm re doing my tank today as soon as I get out of school
I like the sand look in tanks but what do I got to do or what do I get so it doesn't mess my filters up or make my water cloudy?
This ls for fresh water

I have a zig zag eel
3 clowns
2 featherfin cats
3 plecos
2 Odessa barbs
2 blue with white strips cats (bought at petsmsrt)
1 sun cat and a couple other things I can't think of right now in a 60g for now.

How much sand should I get??

 

[da_squid]

i also have 2 serverums in the tank as well as a silver dollar. 2 angles about 3.5"

 

[Redearsunfish]

Maybe an inch, and inch and a half of sand on the bottom at the most... Keep your filter intakes well off the bottom... drain the tank before you put the sand in... can't think of anything else at the moment..

 

[da_squid]

Maybe an inch, and inch and a half of sand on the bottom at the most... Keep your filter intakes well off the bottom... drain the tank before you put the sand in... can't think of anything else at the moment..

ok thanks
at firstt when i put the sand in will it move all over the water and i have to wait for it to sit? how long does this usually take for it to be fish safe or can i throw them in after i throw the medicine and things in the water

 

[Richies^Ghost]

I recently redid my tank with sand, using the following steps:

1. "Acquiring" eggcrate (the best I could find was bread delivery crates) and cutting it to shape, and washing it in the shower
2. Removing half of the old substrate using a new cleaning pan/shovel - this was so that I wouldn't screw the biological filter too much in one go
3. Washing the sand in a bucket - this was to remove fine particles which floated on the surface when given a stir
4. Turning off the filter
5. Placing the crating on the newly cleared tank floor (I have alot of sandstone, so its a must) and weighing it down
6. Placing the sand in the water - I used a bowl at a time instead of dumping it in, to minimise the cloudiness
7. Redecorating
8. Waiting till it was reasonably clear - i.e. I could see the back of the tank, kind of
9. Waiting a week, then repeating steps 2-8

I think it was a really good choice - not only has it renewed the look of my tank, it's also renewed my interest in it and launched the tank overhaul I've been thinking of for a year now.

Good luck

 

[nater]

Depending on what kind of sand you use I would recommend rinsing it in a bucket till the water is pretty much clear. Play sand will take a lot of rinsing if that is what you use. If you do this the water shouldn't cloud that much and should clear up pretty quick.

 

[da_squid]

I recently redid my tank with sand, using the following steps:

1. "Acquiring" eggcrate (the best I could find was bread delivery crates) and cutting it to shape, and washing it in the shower
2. Removing half of the old substrate using a new cleaning pan/shovel - this was so that I wouldn't screw the biological filter too much in one go
3. Washing the sand in a bucket - this was to remove fine particles which floated on the surface when given a stir
4. Turning off the filter
5. Placing the crating on the newly cleared tank floor (I have alot of sandstone, so its a must) and weighing it down
6. Placing the sand in the water - I used a bowl at a time instead of dumping it in, to minimise the cloudiness
7. Redecorating
8. Waiting till it was reasonably clear - i.e. I could see the back of the tank, kind of
9. Waiting a week, then repeating steps 2-8

I think it was a really good choice - not only has it renewed the look of my tank, it's also renewed my interest in it and launched the tank overhaul I've been thinking of for a year now.

Good luck

so no fish untill a week from now is that what your saying?

thanks for the information and step by step!

 

[Richies^Ghost]

ok thanks
at firstt when i put the sand in will it move all over the water and i have to wait for it to sit? how long does this usually take for it to be fish safe or can i throw them in after i throw the medicine and things in the water

I didn't remove my fish - they just went to the far side of the tank and hid amongst the rock, which was another reason why I didn't do it all at once. It was probably an hour before I felt it safe to turn my filters back on - with that said, I haven't yet inspected them to see if they're fubar, but so far so good

Also of note was that I was using sand bought from the hardware store that was suitable for playgrounds - that way I knew it had been boiled or whatever they do make it safe for eating

 

[da_squid]

Depending on what kind of sand you use I would recommend rinsing it in a bucket till the water is pretty much clear. Play sand will take a lot of rinsing if that is what you use. If you do this the water shouldn't cloud that much and should clear up pretty quick.

ok. is there a brand of sand that most of the people here use? i want a white colored sand if that helps any

 

[Richies^Ghost]

so no fish untill a week from now is that what your saying?

thanks for the information and step by step!

No...

Just as there's helpful bacteria in your filter, it's in your substrate as well. If you remove all of your substrate at once, you risk an ammonia spike. The main reason I did half my tank, then waited a week, was so that this wouldn't happen - also, I ran out of sand.

You can buy sand online from aquarium stores, though it will usually be pricier than the hardware store stuff. If you buy it online, it will probably have specific properties that you may not want - i.e. raising the PH level - so you will need to research it.

With white sand, I'm told that some fish can fade in color, as they adapt to match the substrate for camoflage purposes. I've noticed a change in some of my fish, such as my red jewel cichlid who was dark and is now showing better colours as he's lightened to match the yellowy sand.