Sand

[Batboi3000]

I don't know as if it is the sand itself that is floating around in the water. I don't know if some of this silica powder is still floating around and that's what is clouding it up. I'll do another water change today, and probably put some of the water from the 125 where my fish is and put that in the 55 where he is going that way he has a lot of the same water properties again so there's not so much change/shock.

 

[turdfire]

ive used the silica sand for the past few years with some of my reptiles. i thought id give it a try when setting up my 110g chiclid community tank. i love the look of it, and yes it takes a few 25-50% water changes for it to fully settle (since its extremely fine sand). recently ive switched to gravel so i could plant the tank

 

[RLHam3]

Don't turn on the filter yet and give it another day or so to settle. I'm pretty sure that it just takes a while

 

[Batboi3000]

Don't turn on the filter yet and give it another day or so to settle. I'm pretty sure that it just takes a while

So then should I wait to put my fish in it too?

I turned the filter off at lunch when I went home so I figured I'd leave it off till tonight anyway. Just have the heater and bubbler going. I did a small water change on it, about 15 gallons out of the 55 and that seemed to help.

 

[Batboi3000]

Well! Fish are in and they survived the night and each other. I got a couple cory cats and a pleco to put in there for a few hours to test things out. They did okay, so last night I put in my red devil. He seems to be doing well and not eating the corys. He sucked one in his mouth bout half way to inspect but spit it out thankfully. He seemed to do it with such care and tenderness. It was funny! Anyway, thanks for all your help and advice. I appreciate it.

 

[Gruff Master]

I hope everything continues to go well in your tank. Keep an eye on the RD with those cory cats. Cory's will spread their hard fins to protect themselves from predators. If he manages to get one lodged in its mouth they can both die.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Ive heard silica not being all that good for sand sifters like geos and whatnot, but I know people have used it wil great results. I HATE playsand. Its so messy, sticks to fish, ruins filters, and just doesnt look very good. Im using 3m quartz sand from a pool store. The stuff is awesome and sinks right to the bottem, never stired up.

Where did you find 3M quartz sand around here? I couldn't find it anywhere. I've been looking for it in black for months.

 

[Batboi3000]

I hope everything continues to go well in your tank. Keep an eye on the RD with those cory cats. Cory's will spread their hard fins to protect themselves from predators. If he manages to get one lodged in its mouth they can both die.

I will Gruff! Yeah, that was a thought as I saw him suck one in a little bit. AWWWW!!!! Don't eat that! That is your housekeeper!

 

[TouchOFelegancE]

i use tropical playsand from homedepot it's like 5$ for a 50lb bag and i love it. All the crap stays at the top of the sand bed and it's easy to clean. Only down fall is that the fish will push it around and make Dunes where they want next to rocks etc. and rocks could fall so place heavy rocks carefully somewhere so they wont fall if the fish push it away from the rocks. Good luck.