sand or gravel?

[Mumma.of.two]

Yeah, feel free to ask away!! With sand, you use root tabs. They're basically little tablets you put under the sand and they slowly release nutrients to the roots of the plants. Petsmart and petco sell API and Seachem ones, or you can make your own which is a little more difficult then just buying them. Bobstropicalplants.com also sells them, but his are MUCH cheaper for what you get

You can use osmocote granules. Very cheap and easy. Freeze some in ice cubes and stick in the substrate. That's what I use.

 

[Autumnsky]

Always imagined fertilizers would hurt fish. Always learning something new!

Austin.b-like your avatar, what kind of shrimp?

 

[Austin.b]

Always imagined fertilizers would hurt fish. Always learning something new!

Austin.b-like your avatar, what kind of shrimp?

Thank you, it is a crystal black shrimp one of my favorites.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Always imagined fertilizers would hurt fish. Always learning something new!

Austin.b-like your avatar, what kind of shrimp?

If you use terrestrial fertilizers in your tank they can have the toxic form of nitrogen (ammonia) in them So it would result in the poisoning of your fish. Fish tank ferts have no3 (nitrate) - less toxic unless in very high levels. I don't know all the details and proper names but you get the gist. Lol. The osmocote I use has urea nitrogen which causes ammonia but is safely contained in the substrate and only in very small amounts.

 

[Autumnsky]

Mumma- so is the Osmocote from the LFS made just for planted tanks, or garden store, due to the way it is manufactured for very slow release it is ok?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

From the garden store. It's a slow release fertilizer for pot plants. There are heaps of threads about it if you do a search on AA.

 

[Paulcm10]

Wrong word, it is one sold at Walmart, Aqua Tech, lower price point, and the other one it ate up was the Whisper advanced, I just went in and looked at the old box. Ate up the impeller, on the original Aqueon after almost a year and no one had the impellers, would have had to order it, it made intermittent loud crazy noises because the sand gets stuck between the impeller and the magnet wearing it into an oval instead of a circle inside.

I bought the next one because husband didn't like being awoken by a screaming fish tank filter, or have the TV show interrupted.

The company said I could order them but I needed one immediately so bought another filter, saved receipt, pump went out 3 months, which I think was the Whisper Advanced, I then tried the Walmart one not their brand but the one which is the lower price and it died in a month got my money back. I bought another Aqueon and it has been going for about a year, so I should order another few impellers, for when it goes bad. LOL

wow makes me not want to have sand...
cause my filter isn't as cheap as the other ones. its a bit more pricey haha

 

[Paulcm10]

I have sand, either play sand or PFS, in 8 out of 9 tanks. Really, gravel is a pain. It's holds too much waste and IMO doesn't look anywhere near as good as sand. The deadliness of gas pockets is over rated IMO. If your worried you can use a fork or stick to mix it or get MTS. Plants will also help as their roots grow. It can get into filters but only if you mix it about or have fish (like larger cichlids) that dig in it. PFS is heavier than play sand so falls to the bottom almost instantly when kicked up.

what about having malaysia trumpet snails? i know they dig in the sand will that make my sand go into the filter?
and what does PFS stand for? haha sorry I'm new at this.
also will it be okay if i have a circulation pump? or will that make my sand go everywhere?

 

[JryanM]

PFS = Pool Filter Sand

 

[Bearchumjs]

what about having malaysia trumpet snails? i know they dig in the sand will that make my sand go into the filter?
and what does PFS stand for? haha sorry I'm new at this.
also will it be okay if i have a circulation pump? or will that make my sand go everywhere?

Malaysian trumpet snails burrow in the sand but they don't kick any sand up into the water column. Pool filter sand is a heavy sand. I was doing a pwc last night and some sand was in my siphon tube. When I broke the suction the water and sand flowed out of the tube and the sand grains sunk straight to the bottom of the tank. I really don't think you need to worry about it hurting your filter. I have a Marineland emperor 400 that I just got and I'm not worried about my pfs sand mucking it up.

 

[Laser]

wow makes me not want to have sand...
cause my filter isn't as cheap as the other ones. its a bit more pricey haha

Keep in mind Autumnsky wasn't having pool filter sand clogging up the filter, but a different kind of aquarium sand. It is possible that sand is not as heavy as pool filter sand.

That being said, I must dissent. I hate the look of pool filter sand. I had it in a tank before and it's too lightly colored for my taste.

 

[Bearchumjs]

Keep in mind Autumnsky wasn't having pool filter sand clogging up the filter, but a different kind of aquarium sand. It is possible that sand is not as heavy as pool filter sand.

That being said, I must dissent. I hate the look of pool filter sand. I had it in a tank before and it's too lightly colored for my taste.

It is a light color. Mine is a light brown/beige I guess you could say. I actually was expecting it to be lighter in color. Here's a picture of my pool filter sand.

 

[Autumnsky]

Mine is very fine, it also sinks rather quickly but the air bubbler and the filter return and suction keeps a decent current circling and it can catch the particles. And suck them up.

Just sharing so you have a better idea. When I put in my sand, 2+ years ago, I had almost no info found to help me decide and in a FW tank, no one I knew had ever had it for FW. I tried to talk to lots of fish store people, although we don't have much selection. Never even new about sand blasting sand (SBS), and pool filter sand, and some one here even said the SBS comes in black.

That is why this place is so awesome!!

 

[Autumnsky]

Mumma, thanks, as a gardener I am familiar with the product, just didn't know if you were referring something special for fish tanks. I appreciate the info to check it out on other threads. I am still learning all the different powers of AA. This is my first forum involvement. And a positive experience, I must say!

 

[Paulcm10]

Malaysian trumpet snails burrow in the sand but they don't kick any sand up into the water column. Pool filter sand is a heavy sand. I was doing a pwc last night and some sand was in my siphon tube. When I broke the suction the water and sand flowed out of the tube and the sand grains sunk straight to the bottom of the tank. I really don't think you need to worry about it hurting your filter. I have a Marineland emperor 400 that I just got and I'm not worried about my pfs sand mucking it up.

so you still siphon your sand? what size tank do you have?
I have a 20g high with an Aquaclear 50. I'm thinking the aqua clear 50 would be sucking up all the sand. and do shrimps or bamboo shrimps kick up any sand at all? or any type of nano fish?

also where can i get pool filter sand? and do they come in different colors?

 

[Autumnsky]

My filter shrimp is pretty calm, occasionally a fish will startle him and he'll scoot away, but doesn't kick up any sand to speak of.

Don't for get to rinse the sand.

 

[Paulcm10]

also would it hurt to have a bubbler in the bottom of the tank? I'm thinking that would kick up a lot of sand..

 

[Autumnsky]

The one I think would work are the lite foam like ones you can suction cup onto the back for a wall of bubbles, I bought one for my larger tank and no problem because I attached it above the sand a couple inches. Different sand too, the Petco kind. It was too wide to fit into my more narrow main tank but I think I will buy the smaller one and do the same thing, it will mostly be covered by rocks and plants...

My main tank has the heavy stone bar and it sinks into the sand...duh!

And remember to make sure your air pump can pump enough to get the "wall" of bubbles if that is the effect you would like, less pumping gets less bubbles which isn't bad, just different.

I am glad you asked that question, I just kinda forgot about that, you reminded me, thanks for the memory jog. Thinking about so many other things too.....

 

[Mr.Pleco]

If you have some gravel laying around just cover it with gravel. I did it in my 50. Sand and some gravel can look really nice. It turned out nice in mine.

 

[Bearchumjs]

so you still siphon your sand? what size tank do you have?
I have a 20g high with an Aquaclear 50. I'm thinking the aqua clear 50 would be sucking up all the sand. and do shrimps or bamboo shrimps kick up any sand at all? or any type of nano fish?

also where can i get pool filter sand? and do they come in different colors?

I wasn't trying to siphon the sand. I was siphoning just above it to get debris off the top of it and I accidentally dipped it too far down. Fish waste and food settles on top of it. I have a 55 gallon tank. It's about 20-22 inches in height. I have a big filter- rated for up to 90 gallons and it cycles 400 gph. I have not seen it kick up any sand. So, last night I did a pwc and started pouring the water in too fast. It stirred up a little sand but the sand sank right back down and didn't linger in the water column. You get PFS from a swimming pool and spa store. I believe it only comes in a light color.

I THINK you can use sand blasting sand and that you can get that in black. However I have absolutely no experience with it.

I have no advice on the fish and shrimp. Ghost shrimp don't kick up sand. That's about all I know.