goldfish and sand

[tmdavies]

just saw in another thread that i might not be able to use sand with goldfish, is this true and why?

 

[DiscusDennis]

tmdavies,
I'll take a stab at this one............
Goldfish are messy and would blow around sand possibly getting into filters and damaging them. Thinking mainly of power filters and canister filters.

Maybe somebody else can chime in about goldfish with a sand substrate?

Dennis

 

[Mr. Limpet]

just saw in another thread that i might not be able to use sand with goldfish, is this true and why?

Which thread? I have a thread where I was told PFS is a great choice and plan to convert from gravel to sand soon. The important thing is, you want a round grain sand not a sharp one like play ground sand.

As for it flying around, PFS doesn't do that at all but PGS does from what I've found out.

 

[tmdavies]

pfs? pgs? not sure what these are

 

[Mr. Limpet]

pfs? pgs? not sure what these are

pfs=pool filter sand

pgs=playground sand

 

[jetajockey]

I have playsand in a few tanks and if you rinse it really well to get the light particles out it's not too bad. One tank housed a spawning group of corys in it for 6-8 months and the other still currently is a growout for blue rams.

Some sands get a bad rap about being rough on barbels for bottom dwellers but honestly I think most cases are bacteria related more than anything.

I keep really thin layers though, because it has a tendency to get packed down really easily. It's a better idea to spend a few more dollars and get the larger grain pool filter sand, 3m colorquartz, or proper aquarium sand.

As far as sand getting blown around into the filter, put a sponge over the filter intake and it should minimize the chance of this happening. The heavier sands don't blow around much anyhow, even with a digger.

 

[jsoong]

Sand is great for goldies. They love to dig & sand won't get stuck in their throats. But do get coarse grain sand so it doesn't get too packed down. And the coarser stuff don't blow around & make a mess.

I have 4" layer of Schultz aquasoil for the plants. That is sand like (although a bit coarser than PFS). No problems at all with the goldies digging in it. <BTW - goldies don't have barbels - so the thing about sand & worn barbels is a moot point.>

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Sand is great for goldies. They love to dig & sand won't get stuck in their throats. But do get coarse grain sand so it doesn't get too packed down. And the coarser stuff don't blow around & make a mess.

I have 4" layer of Schultz aquasoil for the plants. That is sand like (although a bit coarser than PFS). No problems at all with the goldies digging in it. <BTW - goldies don't have barbels - so the thing about sand & worn barbels is a moot point.>

Thanks for the confirmation Jsoong!

I figured PFS was a better choice, since the PGS I was checking out had small, sharp grains and was worried about it cutting up their insides. I don't have any issues with PFS blowing around and putting a sponge on the filter intake defeats the purpose of it IMO.

 

[Sssea]

This is great news! I was told not to use sand because they like to swallow it when eating thing off the bottom.