Wanting to go from gravel to sand

[Chronos313]

I want to go from gravel to sand, I'm gonna check out pool filter sand as well as the stuff from my local fish store, and I know that it's best to rinse it in a pillow case before adding it. Any other tricks to make the switch? I'm not sure if I'm gonna go with a sandy natural color or go darker to bring out the color of my fish. Any recommendations? Also if I rinsed off sea shells that I gathered as a kid would there be any issues?

 

[jlk]

My only suggestion would be to watch your tank parameters for next 2wks after you switch as you will be losing a portion of your bb & it will need to re-establish itself on the new substrate (sand). You could also place some of your old gravel in a mesh bag or a piece of pantyhose & place it in the tank to help things along. Im not positive on the seashells- they are made of calcium carbonate & they may have the effect of raising your ph as they disintegrate. Hope this helps! Oh, and the pillow case trick works great for washing sand!

 

[Chronos313]

Do I have to add anything other then sand? I don't have live plants just yet, kinda have that on the backburner as I'm expecting a baby in may. Also I'm glad to say my one GBR who had a viciously nipped tail at my lfs is now Doug great and his tail is growing and he's showing color now. He didn't before I think due to stress

 

[jlk]

Congrats on the new baby!!! Im not a plant expert & my low tech plants seem to be ok with sand or gravel (diff tanks). I know some people use a plant substrate beneath the sand (such as flourite, ecocomplete, organic soil) but i dont know much about doing it yet. Still learning! Hopefully, someone can advise you on this-if not, i would ask in the fw planted section. Im glad your gbr is doing better!

 

[jlk]

Forgot to mention- the pool filter sand is pretty nice because its coarser than the stuff most lfs stores sell. Look for a silica-based sand because alot of sands are carbonate-based which will affect your ph.

 

[F-8 pufferman]

Sand is great i just put some in my 10-gal bw tank. and i wish i had thought of the whole pillow case idea lol. i spent like 39 minutes literally rinsing the sand in a big bowl lol. As for the seashells there probably not a good idea, any bacteria they picked up from the ocean is probably long gone but the will cause a ph whack job on your water.

 

[Sharkbait54]

I want to go from gravel to sand, I'm gonna check out pool filter sand as well as the stuff from my local fish store, and I know that it's best to rinse it in a pillow case before adding it. Any other tricks to make the switch? I'm not sure if I'm gonna go with a sandy natural color or go darker to bring out the color of my fish. Any recommendations? Also if I rinsed off sea shells that I gathered as a kid would there be any issues?

I used petco sand I didn't even have to rinse or clean it. It looks great.