Hey guy! i am really wanting to put sand in my 55g. but i dont really no how well it will look, so if you guys could please post your pics of your tanks that have sand in them so i can get a good idea about it
Sand Pics
- Thread starter Letmein
- Start date
This is before i removed the sand. 
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very nice. how do yall manage to get the poop off the sand. cause if i used my vac. it would suck up the sand
Pool filter sand is heavier then Play sand. IMO. but every time i clean the water i ster up the sand to get rid of the small poo particles that are in the sand. And a power head and 2x Cascade 300 HOB's, and 1xFX5 and 1x Cascade 1500.
nomicon;2573313; said:
you sift the sand. Or get a tank resident to sift the sand for you. I use Malaysian Trumpet Snails but there are other options out there as well.
Letmein;2573224; said:
Before I start draining a tank, I usually swirl the water around above the sand with my hand. This is to break loose any waste that is partially burried or attached to the sand by algae. I also get waste out from behind/under decor while doing this.
Then I use a long vinyl hose to remove wate/waste into the yard. Holding the hose at an angle to the sand helps to avoid sucking too much out, then I just hold the hose as close to the sand as possible without sucking up too much sand. Some gets pulled out at every water change, but since I put my waste water in the garden and not down the drain no harm is done.
I also use Pool Filter Sand as it is consistently large grained yet still relatively inexpensive ($8 US per 50 lb in my region).
nomicon;2573313; said:
If it's real deep this can be an issue. But at 1~2" it's not much of a concern. Cichlids dig a lot which keeps it stirred, and most people with sand also stir the sand up from time to time to release any gasses that may have built up.
I used gravel only for many years until I tried sand in one tank. After trying it once, it didn't take long at all for me to switch all my tanks over to sand. I find sand much easier to keep clean and I love how sand keeps waste in plain view. It's hard to put off doing a water change when it's obvious it's time. With gravel I was more likely to fall victim to "out of sight, out of mind".
pool filter sand is the way to go... hover your vac above the sand and it will suck the poop off of it.. you dont have to dig through the sand like you do with gravel... as for the magic gas pockets of death... as long as yer sand isint like 6" deep its not that much of an issue.. but stiring it up from time to time is a good idea