Advice on redoing a 55gallon tank.

[Talvari]

I currently have a 55 gallon tank with semi aggressive fish. I have 5 tiger barbs, 1 gold gourami, 1 hi-fin pleco, and a ghost knife (plus some dalmation molly fry in a little breeder net that I rescued from being eaten!). I just lost my two clown loaches, who I've had for a year, to ich. I was devistated!

Anyways... I've decided I dont like the way my tank looks, at all. Its too... bare and thrown together. I want to do more live plants and maybe switch to sand (preferably black).

How much more difficult is sand to take care of then gravel? How do you vacuum it without sucking up sand, too?

What are some good, hardy live plants to use in this sort of a setup?

This is my tank so far:

 

[Philly33]

Sand is relatively easy to vacuum. Just takes patience and work in small sections. Limit the suction with one hand while grazing over the surface. I have a 90gal with 50/50 sand/ fine crushed.

 

[Talvari]

I have a python, so I can actually adjust the suction rate by just adjust how high I turn on the faucet. I sketched up an idea of how I think I'd like to do the tank...

 

[Philly33]

I just use a 3/4" hose into a 5gal bucket that sits in a 20gal garbage can for overflow. I pinch closed and slightly stir a section then siphon. I control exactly what I remove and replace.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Some sand is really hard to clean without sucking up... some is really easy. I use PFS if I use sand...it vacuums just like gravel. I've never sucked any up during a water change, even with pushing the tube all the way down in the sand to the bottom. I had Tahitian Black Moon Sand once, it was a major pain to clean. If you get fine sand, it'll be harder to clean than coarser sand.

 

[xXNirvana69Xx]

Nice cave lol!