sand oppinion for my 29 gallon tank

[krap101]

should i go all out aragnite or put crushed coral in my filter and put tajihan moon sand or whatever as the substrate

 

[Menagerie]

If "tajihan moon sand" is the black sand, don't do it. Fish waste shows up very easily on that. I would go with cheap playsand from HD and put crushed coral in the filter. Can you put crushed coral in a HOB?

 

[krap101]

im getting the emperor and it has 2 slots. im putting in the regular filter cartrage in the 1st one and this plastic hingy that holds media and im putting the coral in there

 

[Menagerie]

Sounds good!

 

[Moe36]

I used regular childrens playsand from HD. Iouldnt be happier with the results; also $2 for 17kg speaks for itself 8O.

 

[William]

Most of my tanks have Moon sand...and fish waste really does not show up that much... and this tank I am in reference to has some very high-producing fish [ Bala, pl*co, and molly to name three ]

 

[dsmalls]

Woohoo that Bala is gonna be a monster! How big is your pleco? Mine is over a foot and produces waste probably just as long. 8O

Seriously, what's the difference between Moon sand and HD play sand?

 

[youronlysin]

I thought I read that they recommended AGAINST using sand substrate with hang on back filters cause it clogs things up..... Does it really float around in the water enough to get sucked into the filter?

 

[krap101]

no its not recommended against just turn off your filter while the sand settles. because it'll probally ruin the impeller

 

[Menagerie]

The true recommendation is to put a piece of sponge (as used for sponge filters) over the intake tube--works great!!

 

[William]

Woohoo that Bala is gonna be a monster! How big is your pleco? Mine is over a foot and produces waste probably just as long. 8O

Seriously, what's the difference between Moon sand and HD play sand?

Bala is currently about 6 inches I'd estimate, Hard to get a decent reading cause he never stands still and hides when I come close.

The pleco.. Is about 7 inches, And heh.. My guy strode around the tank the other day with over 2 feet from his hind end of organic yarn. So, your guys a light weight

I thought I read that they recommended AGAINST using sand substrate with hang on back filters cause it clogs things up..... Does it really float around in the water enough to get sucked into the filter?

As long as you rinse the sand REALLY good, and put it in the tank a few days before you add fish and filtration [ to give it time to settle ] all should be good.

ALL of my tanks that have sand are all HOBs.

 

[krap101]

yeah im getting the same frm home depot. i heard its aragnite based

 

[Mere Air]

The only thing I DON'T like about Tahitian Moon sand is that it's so dark I can't find the waste to remove it with a turkey baster. I unplug the HOB several times a week and blow the sand around, then go after whatever waste I see drifting in the tank. Also added some ghost shrimp as a clean up crew.

 

[krap101]

ic. you dont have a siphon or is the tank too small? because the moon sand is a very small rock substrate and im sure thats big enough not to be sucked up by the siphon

 

[Mere Air]

I have a siphon but find it cumbersome to use, even after several weeks of practice. I finally gave up and just went back to using a turkey baster.

 

[krap101]

ahh the trick for self start siphons is fill the plastic tube with water put it higher then the tubing itself and let the water rin down. fill it up again and it'll start the siphon.

(tubing=where the water comes out)

(tube= the bigger part)

 

[Mere Air]

Thanks! I'll give it another go. It sounds so simple and looks so simple in the instructions. We would try over and over. Sometimes it worked for us, but usually not. There for a while we were using an ear syringe to start it.

The tank is quite small, only 10-gallons.

 

[krap101]

yeah i use the regular sized one. not small. i have both. but i like the speed of the regular sized one. remember the directions are the hard way. like you shake it up and doen (fill it up first) and start the siphon.

ill try to explain it in a different way.

you fill the tube with water. then you lift the tube higher then the end of the tubing and keep it at an angle. when the water starts going down fill it up again and it should start the siphon. remember dont let all of it drain out or it wont work.

any questions just ask again. im sure some of it doesnt make sense

 

[swanandmokashi]

is playsand ok for freshwater tanks ? planted tanks ?

 

[krap101]

pretty much all playsand is okay. just wash it out a whole bunch. the tropical playsand is made of aragnite (the ones that are like 20$ at the lfs) and its 7.99 for a 50 lb bag. aragnite raises ph and hardness thats why i got it. for regular fish i would use the other kind (forgot name)

and im sure it'll be okay in a planted tank. oh and the tropical play sand is really soft. it raised my ph from 7.2 to 7.6 in 3 days only 0.4-1.4 to be ready for the brichardi. then i just needa finish my cycle.

and since the playsand granules are circular do you think that'll help it airate by itself?