oscar tank substrate

[cogburn]

so for my 150 gal oscar tank... im thinking tahitian moon sand.... questions... how many pounds do you recommend for 150 gallons? and will this be easier to clean than gravel? i would think it would be... and is there anything i can use to make sure it doesnt get in my filter and ruin it? i will be using 2 cascade 1500 canister filters...

thanks in advance...

Larry

 

[cogburn]

through reading i know the poo and foodstuffs will sit on top of this sand and i can vacuum it out easily... easier than gravel... but will once a week be enough? sounds like it can get pretty bad... anybody with this sand please chime in... or any sand for that matter...

 

[Retaks]

I have sand in my Piranha tank and love it. All the crap dose sit on top and is easily vacuumed off. I do a gravel 2 times a week and do a 15%-20% water change when i do the gravel vac. As for it getting in your filter im assuming you have atleast a 55 gal tank since you have an Oscar and a 55 would be a minimum tank for life. Very little sand get sucked into the filter. The intake for the filter is so high the sand rarely get stirred up enough to make it into the filter. I celan my filter once a month and the most sand ive taken out fo the filter is about 1/32 of a shot glass and that was because i was impatient after i just put the sand in the tank and didnt let it settle properly. There are pics of my tank with natural gravel and sand in my profile on here. The pics with sand are the newer pics of the same tank. Thats tank is a 55 gal.

 

[Retaks]

Oops i should have payed more attention to the first post. Sorry.

 

[cogburn]

hahaha.. no sweat... yeah with the 150 gal being 30" tall i guess i probably wouldnt have to worry too much about sand in the filters... i could always put a sponge or pantyhose on the intake ends if need be... i really like the way your tank looks retaks... that black sand makes a HUGE difference looks great... is the 2x weekly vacuuming totally necessary or just because you like it spotless? i have no problem vacuuming once a week if need be i just dont wanna have to do it twice or more a week... but i think it would be better because the gravel wouldnt collect stuff it would all be on the top which would be nice

 

[Retaks]

Thanks. I like the sand alot better also. I wouldnt worry at all once the sand settles completely. I did use a fine net over my intake to keep the bigger perticles out of the filter when it was first set up. I only did that for about 3 days though and i would turn the filter off every couple hours to let the particles that were stuck settle to the bottom. The 2x a week gravel vac is not necessary i jsut like to keep it clean and having Piranhas they make quite a mess ripping their food apart. Im switching them from shrimp to Cichlid pellets so they dont have to rip the food apart and its less mess. Its just hard to get a wild fish to eat pellets.

 

[haykay]

for the amount.. normally they say 1lb per gallon, but its up to you.. i think more than 4-5 inches deep and you will have to worry about anerobic pockets... I've personally never tried sand as I love shoving my vac deep in the gravel and looking at the yuck, but I'm getting used to not being ablt to do this with my planted tanks...

 

[kimo]

"Im switching them from shrimp to Cichlid pellets so they dont have to rip the food apart and its less mess.

Its just hard to get a wild fish to eat pellets."

Don't feed your fish for about 3 or 4 days. Then throw a few pellets in.

A hungry fish will eat anything. Once they get a taste of the shrimp pellets they will want nothing else.

 

[Retaks]

"Im switching them from shrimp to Cichlid pellets so they dont have to rip the food apart and its less mess.

Its just hard to get a wild fish to eat pellets."

Don't feed your fish for about 3 or 4 days. Then throw a few pellets in.

A hungry fish will eat anything. Once they get a taste of the shrimp pellets they will want nothing else.

I tryed that. I got to a week and a half without them eating and gave in and gave them shrimp again. I am hiding pellets in the shrimp and they are eating them that way so i hope thats a start to a just pellet diet.

 

[haykay]

eek no fun not getting them to eat all of what you want.. keep trying though.. eventually kimos theory will win out!

 

[kimo]

"I've personally never tried sand as I love shoving my vac deep in the gravel and looking at the yuck"

Do that with a microscope and you'll see why I refuse to use a gravel vacuum. A perfect food source for the fish. (Ever wonder why gold fish and cichlids dig and mouth the gravel?)

 

[haykay]

you know Kimo to be honest I have seriously backed off as i noticed they are little microorganism bug like things! I was gravel vaccing one day and my water turned really green and looked like it was moving.. so i poured some into a cup and wala! I was seriously impressed and have backed off ever since I figure they must do good and they must taste good so ya... by the wasy is that what bamboo shrimp eat?

 

[kimo]

Almost all fish and inverts eat the micro-organisms (and algae). It makes up for the times when they can't get their regular diet.

I have seen so many new people who think they can keep their tank as spotless as the day it was new... and they try with all kinds of water changes, vacuums, kill the light, etc...or: "ew! its bugs!" syndrome, that the tank is always sick, the fish are sick or the plants don't grow. All they have to do is let nature take its course and most if not all is cured.

I think if grade schools made it a requirement for science lab, for each child to have a small aquarium w/microscope, they would increase the number of kids who take up science later on by at least 200%. Ignorant politicians will never let it happen though....