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Post by bcroft on Feb 27, 2006 18:42:55 GMT -5
Hey, I finally got sand for my tank lol....Now I have it in a bucket with water and tons of clumps went to the top with some dust as well. How long should I leave it in there? The instructions say not to stir it a lot. Sand is like an alien to me lol.
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Post by amanichen on Feb 28, 2006 1:31:03 GMT -5
Rinse whatever particles and dust you can off of it. Make sure you do it thoroughly to get as many excess particles out as possible.
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Post by Rachel on Feb 28, 2006 10:26:10 GMT -5
Hey, I finally got sand for my tank lol....Now I have it in a bucket with water and tons of clumps went to the top with some dust as well. How long should I leave it in there? The instructions say not to stir it a lot. Sand is like an alien to me lol. We discussed this in chat last night, but for those who didn't attend, I mentioned that with aquatic sand you usually just have to soak it in a bucket for a few days. A lot of the clumps at the top should begin to sink. You'll probably have a thin layer of dust on the top to scoop off after that time. I'd give it a few stirs when you think it's about ready, but after that it's set to go! After soaking, I didn't even have to rinse mine to remove any extra particles, as there weren't any. Note: this is different than play sand, which you have to rinse for a very long time before using in your fish tank. With aquatic sand, you're usually able to just soak it for a few days (per the package directions) and it's ready to use. Aquatic sand is a bit pricey compared to play sand, but the preparation process is much easier. Let us know the results  |
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Post by bcroft on Mar 1, 2006 9:17:55 GMT -5
Everything went smoothly It went in and no clumps went to the top or anything! I think I need to do it one more time though, because I only got 5 pounds lol. One more question: I know with sand all of the poop and food stay on the top instead of getting mixed in, so with that in mind when I clean I should just stir it up and let the syphon / filter do the rest? |
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bettons
Junior Bubble Nester
Posts: 187
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Post by bettons on Mar 1, 2006 18:21:43 GMT -5
do you fish in that tank? Because I am interested in sand too, and want to change form gravel to sand, if possible.
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Post by bcroft on Mar 1, 2006 18:50:02 GMT -5
Yes I had fish inside of the tank. What I did is just took all of the ornaments and plants out first. Then I put most of the gravel pieces into a cup. After that I got a foam cup and put it in the barrel where the sand was. Keep in mind that the water the sand was in was old tank water, so it was treated I put cupfulls of sand into the tank, and kept a close eye for fish. I thought it might harm them more, but if you just keep the cup near the bottom they'll be fine, although the guppies were annoying! As they tend to be very nosey. |
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bettons
Junior Bubble Nester
Posts: 187
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Post by bettons on Mar 1, 2006 19:03:23 GMT -5
ok! so, "One more sand question... lol"=) did the sand settled on the bottom in a reasonable amount of time?(say like 30min-1H)
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Post by bcroft on Mar 1, 2006 19:06:15 GMT -5
Well because I soaked it and played around with it for about a day or so, and took all of the dust out before I put it in, all of the sand just plumped right to the bottom. Of course there will be some bubbles in the sand on the bottom, but the fish curiosity will take care of that |
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bettons
Junior Bubble Nester
Posts: 187
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Post by bettons on Mar 1, 2006 19:16:47 GMT -5
got it! thanks, I will buy 10 pounds of sand tomorrow.
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Post by bcroft on Mar 2, 2006 9:35:24 GMT -5
One more question: I know with sand all of the poop and food stay on the top instead of getting mixed in, so with that in mind when I clean I should just stir it up and let the syphon / filter do the rest?
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Post by Rachel on Mar 2, 2006 10:29:40 GMT -5
One more question: I know with sand all of the poop and food stay on the top instead of getting mixed in, so with that in mind when I clean I should just stir it up and let the syphon / filter do the rest? Well, it's pretty easy to just siphon any of the debris right off the surface, either before or after you stir the sand. I usually stir it around a little with my hand and then siphon the debris out during the water change. I've never used a gravel vac, only clear vinyl tubing to do water changes, so I'm not sure if that would make any difference with sucking out too much sand. With the tubing, you can just hold it about 1/2" or so above the sand and everything gets sucked up, but the sand stays in place. I don't think relying only on the filter to remove the debris would be enough. You do want to be sure you stir your sand on a regular basis though. Otherwise pockets of gas may build up below the surface that can be harmful to aquatic life. |
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Post by bcroft on Mar 2, 2006 10:37:37 GMT -5
Thanks rachel I'll just take the vac part off of the tubing and just use that as a syphon for my water changes... hopefully everything runs smooth. |
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