# Sand question..



## Shaggy (Apr 29, 2005)

How do you clean it on a normal water change. I clean my rock base with a syphon and borrowing the it into the rock to get all the crap out, but how can you do that wiht sand? Seems to me that sand will end up going into the syphin.


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

depends. usually crap wont get stuck inbetween the pieces and will stay on top, so you can just take the vaccuum and hold it slightly above the sand and suck it all up off the sand.

or get a wider vacuum, apposed to the long and narrow get a shorter fatter one, that way you can stir up the sand without it going down the tube.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Believe me, it's a lot easier than cleaning gravel. I only need to do water changes in my sand tanks because all the fish waste just gets sucked up into my power filters.


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## Shaggy (Apr 29, 2005)

Let me see some of your tanks with sand.


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## sumpthinfishy (Jan 21, 2005)




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## Shaggy (Apr 29, 2005)

IS it ever dirty looking in your tank. It looks cloudy in your last pic.


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## sumpthinfishy (Jan 21, 2005)

That was right after putting the sand in and it hadn't settled. It doesn't get cloudy from the sand. In the other pictures, there are darker spots. It's not crud though, it's fluorite that my weather loaches have unearthed from beneath the sand. 

My tank does get murky looking, but it's from the bogwood and I have plants floating on the top since the two synodontis would prefer a darker environment. 

But the water is actually very clear. And I find the sand much easier to clean.

Just took the gravel out of my 46 gallon and replaced with sand because I do like it much better.


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## Shaggy (Apr 29, 2005)

Ok, I may try sand on my next tank, it would be to much work taking gravel and the gravel filters out of my 55 gal tank. So I will wait. 

Thanks for the info.


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## sumpthinfishy (Jan 21, 2005)

It wasn't as hard as I'd figured to scoop the gravel out of my tank, but then, I didn't have a gravel filter. Just the regular ol' hang on back kind. I left a little gravel for the good bacteria and covered it with sand. So far, no problems. We'll see.


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

http://www.fishforums.com/phpBB/album_showpage.php?pic_id=152


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## buddah101 (Mar 20, 2005)

new 30 gallon planted w/ sand over flourite


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Well Shaggy i will have to show you how to do it right with sand!

Now with White Southdown Sand:


















Can eve use sand to make decor on DIY caves!


















And Now Black Tahiton Moon Sand:


















Hope this helps you out, I found that sand is much easier to clean then gravel. As the debris usually stays right on top of the sand and just graze over the sand with the vac. and there ya go, some sand may go in the tube into your bucket but can easily put that back in when you add water back to the tank. 

HTH
MP


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

wow malawianpro that loooks awesome!!!! especially the white sand!!!!!


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Lydia said:


> wow malawianpro that loooks awesome!!!! especially the white sand!!!!!


Hey Malwian,
Are those pics of freshwater tanks?
Hmm... those fish seem larger and more colorful than any freshwater fish i've seen.


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

They're freshwater species. Cichlid


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

I've thought about switching over to sand, but I have a question. I have a bottom feeder, and my platy loves sticking its nose in the gravel looking for extra food. Does the sand irritate their skin, or gills? I'd hate to do more damage than good by replacing the gravel with it. Opinions?


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

I think no. My bottom feeders get difficulties alot with gravel. Eversice I had sand (in my flower spots) they've been staying well at the sand sites.


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Cool. As soon as I get settled after I move I'm planning on sand and a new filter then. I get sick of trying to vaccum out the gravel all the time.


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## sumpthinfishy (Jan 21, 2005)

One of my tanks has nothing but clown and dojo loaches and two synodontis. The dojos just snuffle through the sand, eating bits of food and blowing sand out their gills. The cories do that too in their tank (sand also) and it seems to be a normal thing for them. The gravel however, would've inhibited or harmed the dojos when they start slamming themselves around the tank. And the cories were getting irritated barbels, so I changed them to sand too. They seem much happier.


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Mine bottom feeder is a cory also (cute little guy...zebra kind of stripes). So that's great to know. I've been able to manage with gravel...had the tank running and the water mostly in the proper paramaters since November, but it really is a pain to keep the maintenance up. (Of course I had to re-cycle it after my betta died...was scared of disease and no fish because it mysteriously got ill. But the water levels are acceptable again after my last ammonia feasco.) 

I had a tank with gravel when I was a kid too, and it was fine for years, but being a kid, my mom made me clean it, and I didn't ever want to because it was always such a mess in the gravel and under the plastic panels for the UGF. Anything that makes keeping fish as pets more fun, and easier to care for them sounds like a great move to me.


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## sumpthinfishy (Jan 21, 2005)

It really seems to be a GREAT deal easier to clean to me. I'm sure it will work out well for you. Hope so after all this anyway, huh? LOL


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## euRasian32 (May 19, 2005)

Shaggy said:


> How do you clean it on a normal water change. I clean my rock base with a syphon and borrowing the it into the rock to get all the crap out, but how can you do that wiht sand? Seems to me that sand will end up going into the syphin.


I've got a Python No-Spill-Clean and Fill (i think Lees makes them now), and I can control the suction on the siphon. If it's on full blast then it'd suck the sand right out, but if you siphon about half power than it does the trick.

I don't have plants, so I keep just a small layer of sand in my tanks, not even a half inch. Yes the bottom isn't covered completely most of the time, but I like feeding my fishes blackworms and/ The uneaten blackworms make it into the sand and when it's a thin layer the blackworms are slightly visible to the bottom feeders. The only plant that I might consider is Java Moss. I've got a piece of floating driftwood which would be the perfect place. The Java Moss will attatch and root into porous wood.

I'll always use sand unless unavoidable (UGF). I've seen natural colored gravel mixed in with natural colored sand, which looked really good IMO, 'twas very natural looking.


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## bsmith (May 6, 2005)

hey MalawianPro ! 
what types of lights are you using in your tanks, in the 1st, 4th and last pics ? i like how they accent everything. i need one and dont know what to get, i have blue gravel and going to put white sand on one side of the tank but am waiting until i move. thanks


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