Sand in Freshwater?

[Wolf]

Hi there,
I was wondering if I put sand in a FW tank would I have to vacuum it like gravel? Are there living things in the sand similiar to live sand in SW? Also, what type and color of substrate would you recommend for Oscars? TIA, Wolf

 

[TankGirl]

No, you don't vacuum sand like gravel, since sand goes right up that tube and into your drain, which is not a good thing. What I do is wave my hand (or just wave the rigid gravel vac end of the syphon hose) around over the sand and stir up the gunk, and suction it up while it floats around. You do need to give your sand a stir from time to time to prevent anaerobic pockets, but most likely your oscar will take care of the sand stirring for you!

The only thing in your sand will likely be some bacteria, but it does not contain the critters that you will find in live sand. It is not much different than gravel except for surface area to hold bacteria in a FW setup.

Darker colored sand might make the oscar feel more secure, but it really won't make much difference, most likely, other than showing off his colors better.

 

[Wolf]

Thanks Tankgirl, I don't have an oscar now but will keep that as a future reference.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I used play sand from Home Depot in my 180gal Oscar tank and it looks good.
I vac. my tank the same way tankgirl stated.

 

[Concubine]

darker sand and no vaccuming. i also used play sand and have not had such good luck with it.

 

[jibboo]

I have pool sand in my tank, and it seems to be working out very well ... its not so fine that it gets sucked up in my gravel vacuum (it goes in, but doesn't actually get sucked out). All the food and waste seems to just sit on top of the sand so its pretty easy to clean.

Tankgirl ... do you think my yo-yos and other loaches keep my sand stirred up enough or should I do some of that every once in a while manually?

 

[TankGirl]

I think most loaches will keep the sand stirred up pretty well, but every once in a while it can't hurt to give the sand a stir right before your water change.

I love pool filter sand! It is coarser and more "natural" looking to me. Plus, it is usually very cheap.

 

[Concubine]

would i be able to use pool filter sand by Quikrete*? thanks

 

[TankGirl]

If it is pool filter sand then you should be fine using it - I don't recall the brand name of mine, but I don't think it was Quickrete.

Incidentally, sand used in concrete applications is likely to have limestone properties and will buffer the water, raising the pH, so check that.

 

[gheitman]

I use sand in my little 5g Hex and it is great. I haven't had any problems with it being sucked up into the filter and my siphon isn't strong enough to suck the sand out of the tank. I plan on adding some black onyx sand from Seachem to my next tank.