Sand Substrate???

[rikbar]

I am sorry to post this, but I have a couple of questions. I have a 180 gal. FOWLR, I have about 100 lbs. of rock. (keep adding slowly) I have a dog face puffer, picasso trigger, v. loin. I have a CC substrate and very high nitrates. I have been doing 35 gal. WC every week for about 3 months now and can't get them down. So I was thinking about changing to sand. Would this be benifical since I really can't keep anything to "clean" the sand? Again sorry for posting another sand question, I have read all the sand post I could find and am just confused.
thanks for your time.
Rik

 

[neon_hybrid]

I changed my substrate from CC to Argonite, and my nitrates went down. I also removed my bio balls, which brought them down even more....

 

[RMPD109]

You can keep the CC just do more frequent vacuuming of it. It is easier to have the sand in the long run. You should not need a sand cleanup crew unless you have excess nutrients in the setup.

 

[rikbar]

Thanks for the replys.
I vacuum it once a week, just doens't seem to come down at all. The more I read about sand the more confused I got. I think that overall everything would be happier with sand. I think I will take on the task this weekend and switch it over. Again thanks

 

[Drake]

How would you keep sand clean if it where a freshwater aquarium?

Thanks

 

[rikbar]

I have a 150 FW tank that I used sand in, I vacuum the waste off of the top and that is about it. I have a lot of snails in there and they do a good job of keeping the sand mixed up.

 

[seaham358]

Change the CC out in stages over a month or 2..... this way you dont loose to much good bacteria at once......

 

[Drake]

Would white playground sand be good for a freshwater aquarium? At Lowe's they have 50 pound bags for $2.50 and I think it's as good looking as the sand at pet stores but it's a lot cheaper.

 

[KMyers18]

I had CC in my 125 and i changed it in 1 hour just scoop out the CC with a cup and when you get it all out then just pour in the sand! But i used all live sand so...not sure about plain ol-sand?? Mine is a FO but 250lbs of LR coming in shortly Then its some MH lights next

 

[mjvincent]

You can use regular play sand in your Fresh water tank. You can also use regular playsand in your SW tank too, but many, including me prefer using the argonite sand as it has some buffering properties to help the PH stay up where it needs to be. Have caution though, monitor your ammonia levels after the change over as it might disrupt your bacteria in your system...

 

[Snoopybdb]

i recently added sand to my tank, during a move, after having a cc substrate for almost 2 years. the guy at my lfs told me to just mix the two together so i don't loose the good bacteria. i did this and it worked very well.

 

[rikbar]

Well I changed out the CC w/ sand last night. So far so good, I really like the looks alot better. I filled some nylons with some of the cc and haven't had any problems as of yet. Went pretty smooth.

 

[rikbar]

I did my first water change since the swap, I changed 30 gallons. Ammonia was 0, NI was at .25, NA off the chart. am mixing more water to another water change tonight.