Switching to sand?

[FishyBusiness]

I think I've finally made up my mind about going with sand substrate. Right now I have gravel and it looks ok. But I LOVE the look of sand. I've decided on PFS and I can't find it anywhere around here now that summers over. So I can order it from ACE Hardware and have it sent to the store. It's $12 for 50# bag. I've also heard that its heavier than regular sand so I shouldn't get much, if any sucked up during PWC. So here's my concerns:

1. Would 50# be enough for my 90 gallon tank at 1-1.5" deep?

2. Will my Aqueon water changer suck any up and eventually clog my kitchen drain?

3. How often does it need to be stirred up to prevent gas pockets?

I know a lot of you have sandy tanks and I've done a ton of research for weeks debating on this. I'm hoping some of you will make me a little less nervous lol!

 

[Fishman007]

I think I've finally made up my mind about going with sand substrate. Right now I have gravel and it looks ok. But I LOVE the look of sand. I've decided on PFS and I can't find it anywhere around here now that summers over. So I can order it from ACE Hardware and have it sent to the store. It's $12 for 50# bag. I've also heard that its heavier than regular sand so I shouldn't get much, if any sucked up during PWC. So here's my concerns:

1. Would 50# be enough for my 90 gallon tank at 1-1.5" deep?

2. Will my Aqueon water changer suck any up and eventually clog my kitchen drain?

3. How often does it need to be stirred up to prevent gas pockets?

I know a lot of you have sandy tanks and I've done a ton of research for weeks debating on this. I'm hoping some of you will make me a little less nervous lol!

If you wanna know how to change (i did it on my 20g long FW once) from gravel to sand i have a thread here
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/changeing-substrate-274438.html

 

[Fishman007]

I think I've finally made up my mind about going with sand substrate. Right now I have gravel and it looks ok. But I LOVE the look of sand. I've decided on PFS and I can't find it anywhere around here now that summers over. So I can order it from ACE Hardware and have it sent to the store. It's $12 for 50# bag. I've also heard that its heavier than regular sand so I shouldn't get much, if any sucked up during PWC. So here's my concerns:

1. Would 50# be enough for my 90 gallon tank at 1-1.5" deep?

2. Will my Aqueon water changer suck any up and eventually clog my kitchen drain?

3. How often does it need to be stirred up to prevent gas pockets?

I know a lot of you have sandy tanks and I've done a ton of research for weeks debating on this. I'm hoping some of you will make me a little less nervous lol!

Try 100lbs for a 90g
Your water changer will suck up some of the sand if you want to get all of the poop/debris
Stir up the sand every 2 weeks

 

[Fishman007]

I think I've finally made up my mind about going with sand substrate. Right now I have gravel and it looks ok. But I LOVE the look of sand. I've decided on PFS and I can't find it anywhere around here now that summers over. So I can order it from ACE Hardware and have it sent to the store. It's $12 for 50# bag. I've also heard that its heavier than regular sand so I shouldn't get much, if any sucked up during PWC. So here's my concerns:

1. Would 50# be enough for my 90 gallon tank at 1-1.5" deep?

2. Will my Aqueon water changer suck any up and eventually clog my kitchen drain?

3. How often does it need to be stirred up to prevent gas pockets?

I know a lot of you have sandy tanks and I've done a ton of research for weeks debating on this. I'm hoping some of you will make me a little less nervous lol!

Yeah pfs is really good i have some in my 20g it is great! Unless your doing saltwater, then get live sand

 

[FishyBusiness]

Sounds good. Yeah, I'm not doing saltwater. Maybe I'll get into that when my kids are older and have more time lol!

Ok so I'll get 2 bags then. If I have leftover I can replace the 20 gallon too. Maybe I'll get a fine mesh sink strainer to catch any sand that comes thru, that would probably work!

I have done research and watched YouTube videos on changing it out, I am leaving all the fish in while I do it but I will check out your link. I love researching about aquariums.

 

[Fishman007]

Sounds good. Yeah, I'm not doing saltwater. Maybe I'll get into that when my kids are older and have more time lol!

Ok so I'll get 2 bags then. If I have leftover I can replace the 20 gallon too. Maybe I'll get a fine mesh sink strainer to catch any sand that comes thru, that would probably work!

I have done research and watched YouTube videos on changing it out, I am leaving all the fish in while I do it but I will check out your link. I love researching about aquariums.

Yeah its fun and please take the fish and put them in a bucket with the heater and a airstone because your fish could get ammonia poisoning from all of the crap in the gravel and under the décor.

 

[FishyBusiness]

Yeah its fun and please take the fish and put them in a bucket with the heater and a airstone because your fish could get ammonia poisoning from all of the crap in the gravel and under the décor.

Oh that makes sense! I will do that instead. Thank you!

 

[Fishman007]

Oh that makes sense! I will do that instead. Thank you!

No problem

 

[Fishman007]

Oh that makes sense! I will do that instead. Thank you!

Also leave them in the bucket for about 5-10 minutes after you switch and put the filter back on so it can clean up alittle of that waste

 

[Jmunroe]

I've done the switching substrates many times. Far less stressful for the fish to leave them in the tank. Just move decor to one end then the other as your doing it. Dont leave the tank bare and leave the fish in. If you do regular water changes with vac'ing you won't get an ammonia spike when you stir it up. One pound of sand to one gallon will give you one inch of substrate.

 

[Canary bird]

Yeah its fun and please take the fish and put them in a bucket with the heater and a airstone because your fish could get ammonia poisoning from all of the crap in the gravel and under the décor.

That's just what I was going to say,it's only a few months since I changed to sand, and I removed my fish , kept 50% of the water , stirred up the gravel yuk yuk yuk, binned the rest of the water, washed gravel, scrubbed tank, placed pre washed and washed and washed pool filter sand in added the 50% old water then 50% new r/o water then the filter for a couple of hours then the fish once the water temp was the same, which didn't take long = very happy fish they all love the sand especially the corys and my daft Pleco who thinks I only put the sand in for him to dig it all up everyday, and it looks fantastic, I would never go back to gravel...

Have fun, it took me on my own approx half a day and the majority of that was in catching the fish !

 

[Jmunroe]

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Have fun, it took me on my own approx half a day and the majority of that was in catching the fish !

This is one reason I always leave the fish in when I do it. Far less stressful for them than chasing them for half a day. My fish always just looked for and nibbled at anything that looked food related that got stirred up lol. I tend to keep my tanks a little cleaner than most and don't get real dirty water doing it. But if you do take them out and spend that long chasing you need a bigger net. Always use the biggest net you can move around in your tank size not a small net because the fish are small. Anticipate where the fish are going, corner and net. Don't chase, it is harder to catch them that way.

 

[Canary bird]

This is one reason I always leave the fish in when I do it. Far less stressful for them than chasing them for half a day. My fish always just looked for and nibbled at anything that looked food related that got stirred up lol. I tend to keep my tanks a little cleaner than most and don't get real dirty water doing it. But if you do take them out and spend that long chasing you need a bigger net. Always use the biggest net you can move around in your tank size not a small net because the fish are small. Anticipate where the fish are going, corner and net. Don't chase, it is harder to catch them that way.

I didn't chase them for half a day lol... It was mainly the tetras they are so quick I could have used a fishing net and still struggled to catch them little buggers , the bigger fish were easy, and my huge pleco a doddle, he just swam into the net and back out in the bucket, laid back dude..
Each to their own I suppose,

Good luck

 

[Fishman007]

That's just what I was going to say,it's only a few months since I changed to sand, and I removed my fish , kept 50% of the water , stirred up the gravel yuk yuk yuk, binned the rest of the water, washed gravel, scrubbed tank, placed pre washed and washed and washed pool filter sand in added the 50% old water then 50% new r/o water then the filter for a couple of hours then the fish once the water temp was the same, which didn't take long = very happy fish they all love the sand especially the corys and my daft Pleco who thinks I only put the sand in for him to dig it all up everyday, and it looks fantastic, I would never go back to gravel...

Have fun, it took me on my own approx half a day and the majority of that was in catching the fish !

Yeah when i did my switch it took my hours to catch the zebra danios i used to have from cycleing