Sand vs gravel
- Thread starter Jmartin
- Start date
Sand defffor ive had both just be careful as it will ruin your filters pretty quickly go with a reall fine gravel substrate 
also what fish is that in your avatar pic??
also what fish is that in your avatar pic??If you use a heavy sand, not to fine it stays on the bottom and is easy to vacuum. Pool filter sand is great!!
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Okay so a heavier sand where do u get pool filter sand a pool store?
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The fish in my picture is a crenila atababo II aka Venezuelan fire pike
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Hello; A less expensive way to get sand is to use construction sand. I bought 3/4 ton a couple years ago for around $15. I dry sift the sand and keep the larger sand particles. The size will depend on the screen used. I have made sifting screens and have also used kitchen colanders.
After dry sifting, the stuff to be kept and used is much easier to rinse.
I used most of the sand to bed a drain pipe but had plenty extra.
There is a good variety of particle sizes in this kind of sand, so you can wind up with whatever suits your needs.
I got my sand from a local building supply place where they keep a big pile on the ground.
If you use sand with the very fine particles it will either takes a lot of rinsing to remove the fine stuff or if not removed it will cloud the tank water a lot and often.
You may want to check on posts and threads about how toxic gases can build up in sand and can kill fish. I think most suggest the sand be two inches or less and be stirred up on a regular basis.
After dry sifting, the stuff to be kept and used is much easier to rinse.
I used most of the sand to bed a drain pipe but had plenty extra.
There is a good variety of particle sizes in this kind of sand, so you can wind up with whatever suits your needs.
I got my sand from a local building supply place where they keep a big pile on the ground.
If you use sand with the very fine particles it will either takes a lot of rinsing to remove the fine stuff or if not removed it will cloud the tank water a lot and often.
You may want to check on posts and threads about how toxic gases can build up in sand and can kill fish. I think most suggest the sand be two inches or less and be stirred up on a regular basis.
Yes, Leslie's pool supply a 50lb bag is like $15ish. It's the right size it's fairly light in color. I have a 24" vacuum tube and I just let it suck the sand like I did gravel once the sand gets 1/2 way up the tube I left and let it drop that way every week my sand gets thoroughly moved around. The fish love it too. They dig and root in it and make little sleeping areas
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sand all day every day. sand is actually easier to cleaner because the waste does not seep into the gravel where is sand it tends to stay on top of the sand.
