Sand in planted tank

[bubbaboy]

I recently dirted my tank and right now I have some questions. I already capped it off with gravel. I don't like the way the gravel looks so I'm just gonna cap the gravel with black sand. I have a 20 gallon and i'm wondering if 5 pounds of black sand is enough to cover the tank. Or would I need 10 lbs? I'm not looking for a thick layer just a layer enough to cover the gravel.

 

[Mebbid]

You are going to have to keep adding more and more sand to keep the gravel covered. Over time the sand will work its way down underneath the gravel letting it get to the surface again. On a 20g high I would think about 20lbs of sand would be sufficient.

 

[owenhp]

Sand over the gravel

you should have about 35 to 40 lbs of gravel in your tank right now, so I would think You would take the gravel out and replace it with about 40 lbs of sand. take the gravel and put it in a bag that will let the water filter thru to use for your bacteria bed until the sand grows it own bed.

 

[Rivercats]

I've been dirting tanks for years with my biggest being a 220g right now and honestly talking from experience it would work best to remove the gravel. Drain the tank as much as you can. Then you'd have to take out as much gravel out as possible then gently push any remaining gravel down into the dirt. Once you have the remaining gravel pushed firmly down in the dirt then you just need to recap it with sand. As Mebbid said just trying to sand over gravel will be a constant battle as sand with it's smaller grain size will just keep working it's way down and under the gravel. Plus you'd end up with too thick a substrate.

Also since almost 100% of your good BB is located in your filter the only thing your tank might experience is an ammonia spike causing a mini cycle and or a possible bacterial bloom for a few days.