Sand dunes in BC 29

[Convict2161]

I'm totally new to this so please bare with me. I have A LOT of questions. I even bought 2 books I'm reading one now about saltwater setups. Pretty interesting. Anyway...

I have a build thread going but it's kinda going dead so I figured I'd get more hits starting a new thread with a question.

I'm noticing I'm starting to get sand dunes and sand getting kicked around the rocks. A full 360. I only have a koralia 425 and the stock out take.

1. Is this good that I have a full 360 effect

2. Sand dunes is that ok

3. The sand getting swept away from the rocks is that ok.




View attachment 70978



View attachment 70979



View attachment 70980



View attachment 70981

 

[Gboy66]

I'm totally new to this so please bare with me. I have A LOT of questions. I even bought 2 books I'm reading one now about saltwater setups. Pretty interesting. Anyway...

I have a build thread going but it's kinda going dead so I figured I'd get more hits starting a new thread with a question.

I'm noticing I'm starting to get sand dunes and sand getting kicked around the rocks. A full 360. I only have a koralia 425 and the stock out take.

1. Is this good that I have a full 360 effect

2. Sand dunes is that ok

3. The sand getting swept away from the rocks is that ok.

K man this EXACT thing is happening to me!!!

1: yes! This means that you will have no dead spots, and that nothing will just "settle" on the sand bed. Very good.

2/3: yes and no. Yes, because who cares? It actually looks cool to have the sand all defferent levels. No because sometimes, like in the 3rd or 4th pic i think, the sand gets swept from under the rocks. They then could be unstable and fall (like one of my smaller ones did today for the same reason.

I usually try and sweep the sand back into place without making the tabk all cloudy again ones the dunes get too high.

Also, when you have hermits and snails, i am pretty sure with all of their activity that they will keep the dunes down and the bed in place!


Ps. Sorry for typos-my fingers hurt lol

 

[Convict2161]

No problem thanks for the reply! Took me hours to find the sweet spot and I think I found it! It's awesome to see them build up.

Unstable even if I out the rock down first?

 

[Gboy66]

No problem thanks for the reply! Took me hours to find the sweet spot and I think I found it! It's awesome to see them build up.

Unstable even if I out the rock down first?

Haha yea? Sick! I actually like the dune look..idk. The rock should be stable, but i know it worries me if there isnt much sand on the sides, and deep down it probably worries your ocd too lol

 

[Convict2161]

Haha yea? Sick! I actually like the dune look..idk. The rock should be stable, but i know it worries me if there isnt much sand on the sides, and deep down it probably worries your ocd too lol

Yeah it does!! Haha I'll be pushing the sand back under and against the rock tomorrow.

 

[Gboy66]

Yeah it does!! Haha I'll be pushing the sand back under and against the rock tomorrow.

Haha i knew you would

Everything sounds good though! Does the tank get very cloudy when you move sand or rocks?

 

[Convict2161]

Haha i knew you would

Everything sounds good though! Does the tank get very cloudy when you move sand or rocks?

Not really anymore. I've learned nice and slow...

Also that's what worries me about water changes. I feel like EVERYTHING is gonna get kicked and tossed around!! Can see myself going cup by cup. Taking the water out not a problem. Putting it back in worries me.

 

[MacDracor]

Are the rocks supported by the sand, or are they sitting directly on the tank bottom with sand around them? I find sitting on the bottom is better, for various reasons, but not the least is stability. For one thing, the sand dunes can't knock over a rock if the rock is sitting on the tank bottom. For another, no burrowing creature can undermine the foundation if it's on the bottom.
If the rock is sitting on top of the sand, I'd really recommend pushing it down to the tank bottom. At which point, your dunes are nothing more than an aesthetic concern!

 

[Convict2161]

Are the rocks supported by the sand, or are they sitting directly on the tank bottom with sand around them? I find sitting on the bottom is better, for various reasons, but not the least is stability. For one thing, the sand dunes can't knock over a rock if the rock is sitting on the tank bottom. For another, no burrowing creature can undermine the foundation if it's on the bottom.
If the rock is sitting on top of the sand, I'd really recommend pushing it down to the tank bottom. At which point, your dunes are nothing more than an aesthetic concern!

My rocks are on the glass bottom. I added rock first then a few days later added the sand.

 

[MacDracor]

If the rocks are on the glass, then the sand dunes are nothing you need to worry about. Unless they bother you visually, I'd just call them a cool little feature. Your clean up crew will move sand around quite a lot, too.

 

[MacDracor]

Also that's what worries me about water changes. I feel like EVERYTHING is gonna get kicked and tossed around!! Can see myself going cup by cup. Taking the water out not a problem. Putting it back in worries me.

I use a siphon and gravity to do my water changes. A piece of flexible tubing and a 5 gallon bucket either on the floor (take water out of tank) or up high on a shelf (put water in tank) work pretty well. With a clamp, you could adjust flow through the hose, and using suction cups, position the hose so that it doesn't stir up the bottom.
For a smaller water change, you could even use a length of airline tubing for very very slow water changes. I used two lengths together before I went from 29 gal to 45.

 

[Convict2161]

If the rocks are on the glass, then the sand dunes are nothing you need to worry about. Unless they bother you visually, I'd just call them a cool little feature. Your clean up crew will move sand around quite a lot, too.

Thanks I actually do like the look, it's always changing which is cool!

I use a siphon and gravity to do my water changes. A piece of flexible tubing and a 5 gallon bucket either on the floor (take water out of tank) or up high on a shelf (put water in tank) work pretty well. With a clamp, you could adjust flow through the hose, and using suction cups, position the hose so that it doesn't stir up the bottom.
For a smaller water change, you could even use a length of airline tubing for very very slow water changes. I used two lengths together before I went from 29 gal to 45.

Thanks I'll try it that way.

 

[MacDracor]

Another added benefit to siphing it slowly in is that any changes to water parameters will be much more gradual than if you dumped it in.

 

[Convict2161]

Another added benefit to siphing it slowly in is that any changes to water parameters will be much more gradual than if you dumped it in.

Makes sense.

 

[NyteGTI]

My setup is similar to MacDracor's. Except I use a maxijet 900 to pump from my 5 gal bucket on the floor up to my tank. My sand never goes nuts. remember Dino you're only going to be doing 20-30% changes weekly. it's not like the African tank where we're doing 50-65% changes weekly(well I am) so the water going into the tank wont push so hard. I like the pump idea because there's no lifting that bucket I pull the RODI line out from under the sink & fill the bucket, mix my salt overnight. Then on sunday morning I syphon 20% of the water out using my water changer I use for the Cichlid tank. Then I just turn the pump on & let it pump water into the tank. I also use that same pump to mix the salt in the bucket & keep the water flowing, so 2 purposes. the pump is cheap & you need one to mix salt anyways So I'm not lifting buckets onto shelves or anything else. the bucket doesn't have to move

 

[Starchar]

If you ever decide to get a sand sifting goby you will quickly give up trying to control where your sand ends up. They make it nearly impossible.

 

[Convict2161]

My setup is similar to MacDracor's. Except I use a maxijet 900 to pump from my 5 gal bucket on the floor up to my tank. My sand never goes nuts. remember Dino you're only going to be doing 20-30% changes weekly. it's not like the African tank where we're doing 50-65% changes weekly(well I am) so the water going into the tank wont push so hard. I like the pump idea because there's no lifting that bucket I pull the RODI line out from under the sink & fill the bucket, mix my salt overnight. Then on sunday morning I syphon 20% of the water out using my water changer I use for the Cichlid tank. Then I just turn the pump on & let it pump water into the tank. I also use that same pump to mix the salt in the bucket & keep the water flowing, so 2 purposes. the pump is cheap & you need one to mix salt anyways So I'm not lifting buckets onto shelves or anything else. the bucket doesn't have to move

Got it. Thanks Ryan. Sounds a lot easier.

If you ever decide to get a sand sifting goby you will quickly give up trying to control where your sand ends up. They make it nearly impossible.

I want one of those! lol so I should get use to it.

 

[MacDracor]

I like the idea of a powerhead to pump water changes! Right now, I'm using gravity, which is tricky. The setup is - a short TV stand. With a Folding TV tray on it. And when the bucket is half full, a large tupperware container to lift it up above the water level again.
In other words, recipe for disaster! LOL