sand substrate question

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

brettsdad2011

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 28, 2012
369
0
0
madison, wi
so, i just filled my 55g with about 70lbs of white play sand....how long does it take to settle? it has been about two hours now and doesnt seem to be settling at all....:irked:
 
If you cleaned it well enough it should of cleaned up instantly. BTW if you have a hob filter better get some replacement parts play sand ruins hob filters within a few weeks. I took my play sand out and painted the tank black and did bare bottom.
 
Play sand takes a lot of cleaning. Some people take a paper towel and rubberband it around the filter intake. Helps clear it up faster and also protects the parts on filters. Pool filter sand is the way to go.

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What kind of filter is recommended for sand substrate?

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Just Get pool filter sand. Its the same price. It does depend on the fish stock to. My redtails swim to much and kicked up to much sand. I love the look of play sand tho. I also did what lil said. I used double layer pantiehoes in the intake. It clogged really fast I had to clean it 1-2 times a day. If you have quiet fish and you cut the intake to water line you should be okay

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I use pool filter sand..just get a 5 gal bucket pour some sand in, then spray water in until it fills up over the sand, and use your hands to mush around the sand, so it gets real cloudy in the water..dump water..repeat until water is crystal clear...thats how i wash my sand so i never wait for it to settle

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Oh and its easy to dump the water out without losing the sand..just take it slow

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U shouldve got pool filter sand.play sand is extremely light gets sucked up by filters easily. But give it a few hours u have to wash it really good the. Put it in at a decent speed and nt just dump it. But yea just give it time.

450 gallon aquariun. 3x 300 gallon wet/dry filters , 2x Fluval fx5's , 1x fluval 405, 1x nitrate filter, 1x 265 gallon drip system.
stock:1x male 12 inch Frontosa, 4x13-19 inch florida gars,12inch Longnose gar,6 inch motoro stingray,9 inch delhezi ,7 inch texas cichlid,15 inch tiretrack eel,16inch clown knife, 3x 14-17 inch hybrid peacock bass!
 
Hello; I no longer use sand due to the cloudiness from fine particles that are too easy to stir up and which get into the filters moving parts and can wear them out. Fine substrates also are known to trap toxic gases in pockets that can be harmful to the fish.
If you want to use sand, one way to help with these issues is to initially dry sift the sand thru a screen of some sort. This way the very fine dust can be discarded. After that the remaining sand needs to be thoroughly rinsed as with most substrates, but will take less effort with the dust gone.
This dry sifting can also allow you to wind up with more coarse particles depending on the screen size used. This can allow for the use of sand and much reduce the chance of toxic gas pockets and also the fine stuff being stirred up. The coarser sand particles do not seem to pack so much and should be better for live plants as well.
 
Hello; I no longer use sand due to the cloudiness from fine particles that are too easy to stir up and which get into the filters moving parts and can wear them out. Fine substrates also are known to trap toxic gases in pockets that can be harmful to the fish.
If you want to use sand, one way to help with these issues is to initially dry sift the sand thru a screen of some sort. This way the very fine dust can be discarded. After that the remaining sand needs to be thoroughly rinsed as with most substrates, but will take less effort with the dust gone.
This dry sifting can also allow you to wind up with more coarse particles depending on the screen size used. This can allow for the use of sand and much reduce the chance of toxic gas pockets and also the fine stuff being stirred up. The coarser sand particles do not seem to pack so much and should be better for live plants as well.

If you have gas problem when ever you do a water change you just rake it.... its not that big of a deal.

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