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Fish and Aquarium Sand??!!?!?
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Author | Topic: Sand??!!?!? |
cichlids small Jaws Member Posts: 255 |
posted 02-17-2004 11:46 PM
he i was wondering about sand.... is it ok to mix sand in with my crushed coral supsrate? do they have white sand?? and will the gravel vacume suck it all up?? thanks again for all the advice. now if i add the sand will it take a long time to settel?? and will i have to take all my fish out?? i realy dont have any clue about sand?? but that it loooks alot nicer and more fun for the fish to dig in it with out bumps or scrapes? sorry long post ------------------ IP: Logged |
matty New Member Posts: 2 |
posted 02-18-2004 12:20 AM
Yes it's ok to mix the two and as far as white sand you can find some at a building supply store or a home depot. Ask for White silicate sand. Be sure to wash it well befor introducing it to the tank, This will cut back on time for ant particles to settle. Cheers. Matt IP: Logged |
cichlids small Jaws Member Posts: 255 |
posted 02-18-2004 12:38 AM
what about using the gravel vac will it just suck it all up?? IP: Logged |
Hooben Moderator Posts: 199 |
posted 02-18-2004 04:05 AM
You are right. You never really touch the gravel vac to the sand, or it will suck it up. Just lightly pass over the sand, being careful not to actually touch it. Sand does take a long time to settle, so be careful if your aquarium is already up and running. IP: Logged |
t_chelle16 Member Posts: 501 |
posted 02-18-2004 07:51 AM
Yes, you can mix crushed coral with sand, but be carefull because the coral will increase the hardness and pH which is good for african cichlids, but not oscars. And like Matty said, go to the hardware store and look for either white siliate sand or pool filter sand. Definitely rinse the sand off first. My parents set up the 75 gallon for me and didn't rinse the sand off first. It took about 3 days for the initial cloudiness to clear up and now when I clean the tank it takes about 3 or 4 hours to clear up. For my 55 gallon, I rinsed the sand first and it took a few hours for the initial cloudiness to clear up and when I clean the tank it just takes a few minutes to clear up. To rinse the sand, I just poured some in a large bucket, ran the hose in it, and let the dirty water overflow out of the bucket. It will take a while, but you should be be able to remove the hose and the sand should settle in a couple seconds. It took me about 20 minutes to rinse the sand for my 55 gallon, but that was playground sand. Pool filter sand shouldn't be as bad. For cleaning, I actually do use a gravel vac on my sand. It takes a little practice, but I let it suck up some sand then lift up the tube and give it a gentle shake and the sand generally falls back out. I do this every few inches across the entire bottom of the tank. Also, it's important to stir up the sand a little every time you clean the tank. Otherwise anaerobic pockets will form and you'll get some toxic gasses built up. That's why I actually use the vac on mine. But if you just want to skim the top of the sand with the vac, you'll need to take a stick and run it through the sand. One last thing is you'll have to either use a pre-filter on your filter intake or at least raise the intake to at least 6" above the sand. -Chelle IP: Logged |
kc5gvn Moderator Posts: 806 |
posted 02-18-2004 09:01 AM
Hi cichlids small jaws, Just some FYI. I really wouldn't recommend crushed coral for a freshwater tank. It is a media type freshwater fish are not accustomed to with sharp edges (almost like crushed glass). If your fish get ich they can scrape themselves up pretty good. There is a gravel type media made for Marine tanks called Dolomite which doesn't have the sharp edges and will increase the PH to about 8.4, and works well for African Cichlids. IP: Logged |
cichlids small Jaws Member Posts: 255 |
posted 02-18-2004 11:36 AM
i was also wondering about a natural Ph and hardness down?? like drift wood or something? dose that increse or decress ph and harndess?? thanks again IP: Logged |
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