sand or rock?

[dkpate]

I got mine at ACE Hardware for $10.99. Probably the cheapest thing I have bought for the tank so far haha!

 

[JPKeenan]

the 8.99 was for 50lbs :/...so im guna c if there are other pool stores near me so i can check all there prices so i can see if i can save even more money. but im cool with 8.99

A buck more expensive that I got it for at my local pool/spa place. Hehehe I wasn't about to use a gallon or two of gas to save a dollar.

I picked up some all purpose sand as well ($3.50) but it doesn't say all silica on it so I was afraid to use it in my tank. No guarantee that it wouldn't have something in it that would react and change the water chemistry while cycling.

*Edit*
I am in the rust best here in Ohio. Live in a county with the lowest cost of living in work in a country with a higher cost of living . Least from the two calls I made seems the going price is between $8 and $12 depending on how hoidy toidy of a neighborhood you live in

 

[mfdrookie516]

A buck more expensive that I got it for at my local pool/spa place. Hehehe I wasn't about to use a gallon or two of gas to save a dollar.

I picked up some all purpose sand as well ($3.50) but it doesn't say all silica on it so I was afraid to use it in my tank. No guarantee that it wouldn't have something in it that would react and change the water chemistry while cycling.

*Edit*
I am in the rust best here in Ohio. Live in a county with the lowest cost of living in work in a country with a higher cost of living . Least from the two calls I made seems the going price is between $8 and $12 depending on how hoidy toidy of a neighborhood you live in

was it just play sand that you got for $3.50? That stuff is horrible for aquariums as it stirs up easy and clouds the tank like crazy

 

[meegosh]

I got a bag of Quikrete's Premium Playsand for about $4 for a 50lb bag at home depot. I rinsed it probably 5 or more times before adding it to my 10g. I am extremely happy with it so far. I've probably had it in for a few months now and my swords and vals are doing great in the sand. I add a root tab or two under the swords every other month and they are growing like crazy with stock lighting.

I can use my gravel vac on it with no problems. My cories and kuhli's love digging around in it also. I've never used PFS so I can't compare the two but I would not hesitate on recommending Quikrete's playsand to anyone. No clouding issues, I have pictures on my website (click my tanks link in my sig and click media) of what the tank looked like after adding the sand, 10 mins later, 30 mins later, and an hour later. It was crystal clear within 12 hours. I ran a prefilter on my filter while the sand settled.

 

[JPKeenan]

was it just play sand that you got for $3.50? That stuff is horrible for aquariums as it stirs up easy and clouds the tank like crazy

No this was all purpose sand. The color in it was nice, dark tan with black specks. But like I said not sure I want to *** it to a tank that I will put angels in. If I were adding less delicate fish (platies or danios) I might chance it for "poops and smiles".

The PSF I put in a 5g bucket and run it in the tub for a bit. It still clouded for a day or two when I put it in the tank and poured the water in. Tank needs to be cycled so I wasn't that gentle pouring the buckets in (have to do a water change to get the nitrates down before adding the fish so figured I would smooth out the sand, place the rocks, and driftwood then).

I tired rocks to/under the driftwood. It was freaky cool looking. The cloudy water and the diftwood (about the length and girth of my forearm) with the rocks it almost looked like blimps/zepplins floating in the clouds.

 

[JPKeenan]

I got a bag of Quikrete's Premium Playsand for about $4 for a 50lb bag at home depot. I rinsed it probably 5 or more times before adding it to my 10g. I am extremely happy with it so far. I've probably had it in for a few months now and my swords and vals are doing great in the sand. I add a root tab or two under the swords every other month and they are growing like crazy with stock lighting.

I can use my gravel vac on it with no problems. My cories and kuhli's love digging around in it also. I've never used PFS so I can't compare the two but I would not hesitate on recommending Quikrete's playsand to anyone. No clouding issues, I have pictures on my website (click my tanks link in my sig and click media) of what the tank looked like after adding the sand, 10 mins later, 30 mins later, and an hour later. It was crystal clear within 12 hours. I ran a prefilter on my filter while the sand settled.

Sorry for two posts in a row

Guy at my LFS suggested the Quickrete's play sand too. Said he didn't have any problems with it either and said he liked the color better. This is the same guy who whenever I come in asks for updates about my tank. No matter how busy the place is he always at least stops and asks me how things are going with the tanks.

What sort of root tabs? Just the regular garden ones (jobes I think is the brand?) I am trying to school myself with the planted tanks now . Do you cut them down and then stick them near the plant roots?

Also how would all you more experienced fish heads go about changing from gravel to sand in an established tank? Would the cloudy particles in the water hurt the fish? I imagine the loose sand cloud would be like sanding joint compound and staying in the room without a dust mask on for a day or two.

Also I would think there would be a mini cycle, Some bacteria is in the gravel and would have to be relocated and start growing on/in the sand.

 

[BigJim]

+1 on the Quickrete play sand. It's a nice tan with some bigger black and white bits in it. I put it in my 29g and it seems to give the tank more character, mostly because the catfish dig in it and create a lot of elevation change. I didn't wash mine really well and it clouded up for a couple days, but it doesn't cloud now. The gravel vac will suck up some of the little grains, but most of the sand just sinks back down. I put one MTS in the tank and I see a bunch of snails in the sand now. The plants also seem to like the sand better than the previous gravel.

 

[JPKeenan]

I am liken the look of the sand in the tank, even without the fish being in it yet. Some rocks and the driftwood are going to give a nice natural look.

 

[ahollland92690]

ok so i just went to homedepot and got play sand, one of my guy friends has it in his tank and its working out pretty great. so i got it and iv startd my tank, the play sand only cost me 3$!!!

 

[JPKeenan]

I just converted my two established tanks over to sand. After about 14 hours the cloudiness was gone... and I can't sleep

At least in my opinion both tanks are looking better with the more natural look to them.

Dollar for dollar you can't beat the cost and as for looks hands down the sand is so much better looking.

 

[meegosh]

Sorry for two posts in a row

Guy at my LFS suggested the Quickrete's play sand too. Said he didn't have any problems with it either and said he liked the color better. This is the same guy who whenever I come in asks for updates about my tank. No matter how busy the place is he always at least stops and asks me how things are going with the tanks.

What sort of root tabs? Just the regular garden ones (jobes I think is the brand?) I am trying to school myself with the planted tanks now . Do you cut them down and then stick them near the plant roots?

Also how would all you more experienced fish heads go about changing from gravel to sand in an established tank? Would the cloudy particles in the water hurt the fish? I imagine the loose sand cloud would be like sanding joint compound and staying in the room without a dust mask on for a day or two.

Also I would think there would be a mini cycle, Some bacteria is in the gravel and would have to be relocated and start growing on/in the sand.

I'm not sure what root tabs I use, I can check later tonight when I get home. I want to say they are EPI or something like that, not the Jungle brand they sell at the chain stores. I don't do anything to the tabs themselves, just bury them beneath the plant about an inch or so in the sand.

I changed my substrate out in my 10g a while back and didn't find it to be that big of an ordeal. I have been pushing off doing my 30g since I have 50lbs of pea gravel in it... I just don't want to scoop all the rocks out.

What I did for my 10g was remove all fish and plants, I put them in my 30g while I did the work. If you don't have another tank, a rubbermaid tub will do the trick. I also moved the filter from the 10g and put it on the 30g to keep it wet while I worked on the tank.

I drained all the water in the 10g, used a razor blade to do some cleaning while I was at it. I dumped all the gravel out and cleaned the bottom real good with a wet paper towel. I rinsed the sand really well in a bucket. I put the sand in first, then filled the tank with some tap water and dechlor. I let it sit for a while, applied a prefilter to my filter and started the filter up again. After it got fairly clear, about 30 mins or so, I added my cories and plants back to the 10g. I squeezed out my 30g's filter media into the 10g filters outflow also.

I did experience a mini cylce. It was hardly anything at all really. I tested the next morning and got a ~0.2ppm ammonia, I tested later that day and had 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites and ~10ppm nitrates. That was it, no water changes like crazy or anything like that. As long as you keep your filter media wet throughout the process you should be fine. Squeezing the filter media from 30g's filter probably helped seed the sand and any other decor in the tank a little quicker.

PS - Keep in mind the higher the bioload on your tank the more likely you will experience a mini cycle. In my case, 2 peppered cories did not create that much ammonia so the bacteria present in the filter was enough to convert the ammonia.

 

[JPKeenan]

I haven't seen any of the tell tale signs of a mini-cycle yet. I do have a good bio-load in my 20g tank. testing it now and then the 30g.

The bio-load in my 20 is pretty heavy but haven't been having a problem with it, thankfully. Tiny bit of an ammonia spike .25ppm, 0 nitrite, and 10 nitrate (but the tank is planted). Will do a 30% water change and see what it is when I come home from work.

Next to test the 30g *lol*.