# New Pics of my tanks



## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

this is my favorite 10 gal, right now, have tiger barbs in there, since the 2 20gal are leaving








great pic of tiger barbs








other 10 gal, love it








i love this tank because its so colorful

The 2nd 10 gal u see needs cleaning, it has algae all over it, i never have a problem with the other one, but this one just keeps gettin it, ill clean it and get more pics


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

i may be getting rid of the skull, it looks too saltwater for me, ill just leave the space empty, more room to swim


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## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

looks great man..i will be moving my barbs into my 55 very soon. i have to get some more though


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## Sowilu (Jul 16, 2007)

Nice. Not a fan of color gravel but it looks nice.


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

yeah, thanks. Im gonna change the gravel, i just dont know what to buy, like what color looks real? could i do sand? how would i prepare it to ready it for a tank?


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## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

you can use sand. just rise it out in a bucket and let the water overflow. do this a few times and walla. you may want to get a smaller bag of tiny gravel to help with the sand from getting sucked in by the filter.


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

how would that help? how does the filter suck sand in??


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## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

on the larger filters and a magnum hot, i have seen it suck in the sand whichcaused it to malfunction the filters. this actually happened to my GF's 55. once i added some tiny gravel it stopped and everything was ok. she has goldfish in her 55 and they are very large, so they would throw sand around all over.


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

im a bit confused though. would a 10 gal filter be big enough to suck sand up? And another question, i brought sand from the beach, is it gonna be ok, or do i need to do something to it, besides just rincing?


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## phat fish (Aug 25, 2007)

no the sand fromt he beach will have salt and various crab and fish parts i it...you can go to where every you buy fish and ask them for sand or if its expensive there...you can go to a craft store and look for play sand for like a 5lbs bag its like 3.99$ (in the pet shop)(usally)its not that expensive unless you buy the crushed up rock that will cost you more...usally peopel buy that for saltwater...


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## Fish Muffin (Aug 25, 2007)

Crushed up Reef not Rock is for Saltwater only so why would you buy that for freshwater, Buy colored sand in your LFS for 3.99  glad to help


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## Bear (Jun 8, 2006)

Fish Muffin said:


> Crushed up Reef not Rock is for Saltwater only so why would you buy that for freshwater, Buy colored sand in your LFS for 3.99  glad to help


No its not only for SW. It is used as a substrate in many FW aquariums to help buffer the water.


Where the sand from your beach is concerned, I would bet that you could just rinse it really well, let it all dry, rinse it again, let it dry and then put it in the tank and all would be fine. Just to be sure though I would stay away from this. If you go to Home Depot you can buy a 50lb bag of silica sand (not so good for SW, but just fine for FW) for like $5-8 (or something else small under $10...im not too sure on the exact price). This does help with the realistic look, but then when you have to stir the sand you have to be really careful of the filters.

Here is a pic of what silica sand looks like in the tank









Personally I would say go for it


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## Sowilu (Jul 16, 2007)

I agree with what was stated above. I had colored gravel and I just didn't like it so I changed it to sand and now I love it. I bought Tahitian Moon Sand 20lb for $20 I think. Are you going to plant live plants?


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

i dont really make enough money to afford real plants, but i will when im older. is there anything else u can use to make it look real, or is sand the way to go?


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## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

closest i could find to real is very fine gravel/sand and silk plants.


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

by silk plants, do u mean the fake ones that almost seem real?


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## Corydora_FREAK (Feb 21, 2007)

yes silk plants are fake but look very real and are soft so they dont harm the fish


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## Sowilu (Jul 16, 2007)

I agree ^. Why don't you use dirt?


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## phat fish (Aug 25, 2007)

dirt in a fish tank?


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## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

Corydora_FREAK said:


> yes silk plants are fake but look very real and are soft so they dont harm the fish


yes yes..i really like them. they seem to be getting more popular as well. i keep seeing more and more new styles coming up in fish stores.


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## Kyoberr (Dec 6, 2006)

Awesome, keep up the good work


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

Thanks. Dirt in an aquarium? Im a bit confused, because dirt turns into mud when its wet, which would be nearly impossible to use as a substrate


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## Sowilu (Jul 16, 2007)

LOL I meant soil substrate here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/substrate/50187-soil-substrate.html

I plan to use lake substrate if ever I establish another fish tank.


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