Sand or Tile?!

[monkeybike]

I maintain mine by having excellent water movement and sand sifting fish. I haven't had to siphon clean in over a year. You can stick your hand into the sand and give it a stir and there is absolutely no detritus. Poop and whatnot never has a chance to sink into it. I have a 40gpd continuous drip system on my 180 so the only service I do is to wipe the glass and clean some filter socks.

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

I have both sand and tile. Tile takes 30 seconds to vacuum. Sand takes substantially longer. That is my experience. Maybe I am I'm the minority but that is my experience. I would recommend that if you like the look of both go tile. It sounds like other have different experiences so take mine for what it's worth. It would be nice to hear from some other barebottom/tile keepers. I know there are many out there.

 

[markstrimaran]

I have 1/4" of local beach sugar sand. I have good flow. It takes about 3 minutes with a turkey baster. To "vacume aka power wash" @ 75 gallons.
A couple of wave makers would automate the whole process.

 

[pcfriedrich]

Try not to over think it. Sand is easy and simple. I dont maintain mine at all. The rays keep it stirred up so I don't have to vacuum either thanks to a solid turn over rate (hammerhead pump). My best advice is to find a sand you are happy with that is safe, rinse it really really well before putting it in a tank and enjoy. All my tanks have sand except for pup tanks and QT. Those are bare bottom. I'm on mobile at the moment so no pics sorry. Avoid play sand. Pool filter sand, the Lapis Lustre I mentioned (a media blasting sand) as well as a few others are cheap and good options. Or you can go the spendy name brand option. To each their own. Moderation is key so try not to have a really deep sand bed and you won't have to worry about gas pockets or anything.

Vacuuming sand for people who like to is easy. Just wave it over the surface or dig in. Either way.

Play sand is way too fine. I use Quikrete brand All Purpose Sand. $3.50 for a 60 lb bag at your local home improvement store. No reason to spend more than that unless you are looking for a specific color or texture.

 

[DN328]

You all with tile or sand substrate make me jealous for the time it takes you to vacuum, or no vacuum at all. This for even tanks in the hundred of gallons.

I have ~1" black river rocks for my substrate that is about 1" -1.5" deep and spend 1 -1.5 hours each month to vacuum. I suppose it's the price one pays for wanting the look I wanted.

 

[Def Leppard Hysteria]

I've never vacuumed the pool filter sand in our 265 or 300 gallon tanks. Between the Geophagus stirring up the sand and the excellent water movement, there really is no need. All I do is drop in my submersible pump to drain and use my Python to fill.

 

[JK47]

You all with tile or sand substrate make me jealous for the time it takes you to vacuum, or no vacuum at all. This for even tanks in the hundred of gallons.

I have ~1" black river rocks for my substrate that is about 1" -1.5" deep and spend 1 -1.5 hours each month to vacuum. I suppose it's the price one pays for wanting the look I wanted.

If you're happy that is time well spent in my book. I intentionally keep certain things manual because its a low stress quiet time to myself. Just not hours per week. You should look into under gravel jets though in your case. That should eliminate or at least reduce the gravel vacuum for you.

 

[DN328]

Hey no need to rub it in LOL. Yeah draining itself is easy enough for my 260G. I've got PVC plumbing and connected a gate valve and a quick connect for a hose. So use the closed loop pump to quickly drain. Python to fill. I'm just careful too to keep nitrates below 5-10ppm as I was doing this only once a month.

Add: The comments was responding to Pyromaniac above ;-).

 

[DN328]

If you're happy that is time well spent in my book. I intentionally keep certain things manual because its a low stress quiet time to myself. Just not hours per week. You should look into under gravel jets though in your case. That should eliminate or at least reduce the gravel vacuum for you.

Thanks for the suggestion. Did you have a particular one in mind. To be honest with a peninsula tank, I'm particular about not having any wires or tubes if I can help it. Although I do have a strainer and loclines exposed in the tank for the closed loop and the internal overflow return.

 

[JK47]

Thanks for the suggestion. Did you have a particular one in mind. To be honest with a peninsula tank, I'm particular about not having any wires or tubes if I can help it. Although I do have a strainer and loclines exposed in the tank for the closed loop and the internal overflow return.

I would think you can DIY one with the same style intake and loc-line so they match. The trick is the pump or powerhead. If you can splice into your pump outlet you could go that route as well and ball valve it so you can control flow.