How do you clean sand?

[Maltimomma]

If I am not mistaken, when using sand you can get gas bubbles build up under the sand and can poison your fish. Which is why many people have fish that likes to stir up the sand.

I have read here and other places that you need to stir the sand about every month or two. I turn off my filters until the sand settles again to keep from damaging the filters. What I don't get is that I've read you can put like a piece of panty hose over the end of the siphon to keep from sucking up the sand. So if you do that how the heck does the poop, etc get through. Only idea I can come up with is to rubber band the material loose enough that it will go a little into the siphon to catch all the stuff and then somehow take off the material and dump it. Anyone know???

 

[Hobgob]

Wow I'm boggled. I have no idea either, the main reason why I don't have sand is I find it's a hassle. So hard to rinse, hard to clean, and can damage equipment.

 

[Mlani]

I've sucked up my share of sand. Really it's not that big of a deal for me. I use the vacuum and a bucket. So when or if I get some sand all I do is dump the water out into a strainer with yes the handy pantyhose around it and voila there's my sand that I put back in the tank. Usually it's such a small amount I don't even bother with the strainer. It's only when I do a heavy duty clean with the vacuum.

 

[WBAC88]

I have PFS (pretty cheap at pool supply places) in my tank and I think that were the tank un-planted, it would be way easier to clean. Like others have said, run the siphon just over the top of the sand. Even if some sand gets sucked in (I have an Aqueon) the sand is heavy enough to fall back down while the waste gets sent through the tube. I've never had a problem with it harming my filter, even though I didn't know better when I set the tank up and didn't rinse it before I added it in.

However, I have a pretty heavily planted tank, and the sand around the plants tends to get pretty filthy. I do the best I can with the siphon, but it's still always vaguely dirty. I don't mind so much, since I'm going for a naturalistic look, but that's something to think about. Black sand would definitely help with that. It's all in what you're looking for, everything has positives and negatives, just see what works best for your situation. Good luck!

 

[smileyface9]

Thanks everyone! i just might give sand a try! Though i'll have to save up first and i'd have to convince my mom to let me get it before i can buy it. She thinks it'll be more work than gravel..but so far it sounds better than gravel since the poop and stuff can't get trapped in the crevices. I might go with a mixture of sand and small pebbels..hopefully i can convince my mom to let me get it.

 

[smileyface9]

I have read here and other places that you need to stir the sand about every month or two. I turn off my filters until the sand settles again to keep from damaging the filters. What I don't get is that I've read you can put like a piece of panty hose over the end of the siphon to keep from sucking up the sand. So if you do that how the heck does the poop, etc get through. Only idea I can come up with is to rubber band the material loose enough that it will go a little into the siphon to catch all the stuff and then somehow take off the material and dump it. Anyone know???

Just gently stirr it up right? Cause wouldn't that be harmful to the fish if it gets stirred up into the water alot?

 

[smileyface9]

If I am not mistaken, when using sand you can get gas bubbles build up under the sand and can poison your fish. Which is why many people have fish that likes to stir up the sand.

How often do you suggest stirring it up? And in what manner should in stirr up the sand?

 

[Mlani]

If your tank is big enough get a dragon fish. They do all the "stirring up" for you
All kidding aside, when you do your routine water changes just swirl it up a bit like you saw on the you tube video that was posted earlier.

 

[ashleynicole]

How often do you suggest stirring it up? And in what manner should in stirr up the sand?

Get some malaysian trumpet snails, they borrow in the sand and keep it mixed up good.

 

[smileyface9]

If your tank is big enough get a dragon fish. They do all the "stirring up" for you
All kidding aside, when you do your routine water changes just swirl it up a bit like you saw on the you tube video that was posted earlier.

Oh ya!! Lol.. I still need to watch the video! Cuz i was at school. I'll do that soon! And i have a little dojo loach i bet he'll do it. I read they like sand.

 

[smileyface9]

Get some malaysian trumpet snails, they borrow in the sand and keep it mixed up good.

I would love to..but my catfish would eat them.

 

[smileyface9]

Maybe this will help you?

Thank you! it did!

 

[ashleynicole]

I would love to..but my catfish would eat them.

Not necessarily. MTS burrow in the sand and come out at night so most loaches like clown loaches can't get to them. Plus they have very hard shells which make them harder to eat. When I had my 55 up and running I had a few decent sized clown loaches and the MTS still managed to populate my sand bed.

 

[smileyface9]

Not necessarily. MTS burrow in the sand and come out at night so most loaches like clown loaches can't get to them. Plus they have very hard shells which make them harder to eat. When I had my 55 up and running I had a few decent sized clown loaches and the MTS still managed to populate my sand bed.

That's pretty cool! Thanks! and my catfish is nocturnal. I hope he wouldn't be able to eat it..but i've seen him eat small snails before.

 

[smileyface9]

So..i'm still a bit scared to get sand.. I haven't completely made up my mind (I have plenty of time to think though cuz i need to earn some money first lol) ..but so far i'm thinking (cause i'm scared to get sand) that i'll get small pebbles and just clean it twice a week since it's hard to clean it super well once a week :/ I do the minimum 25 to 50 percent water changes every week (on the weekends). But since this semester i'll have more freetime i'll just clean it twice a week.

 

[ashleynicole]

You can get a 50lb bag of pool filter sand at home depot for 5 bucks. And once you go sand you will never want to go back to gravel. It's so much better in so many ways. That's just my opinion though...

 

[smileyface9]

You can get a 50lb bag of pool filter sand at home depot for 5 bucks. And once you go sand you will never want to go back to gravel. It's so much better in so many ways. That's just my opinion though...

Thanks! is that what you have now? And is it safe and clean enough for the fish tank? I only have one plant.

 

[Jmedic25]

Dont forget to keep the sand layer no more then 2 inches...Deeper sand is said to trap more gas. If you did go deeper im thinking you would have to stir it more often...Like mumma said if you have good flow in your tank you dont need to vac much.. My big plecos long string poo is the only thing that collects. I just pull it out by hand...My kids always say "eeww your touching poop"

 

[smileyface9]

Dont forget to keep the sand layer no more then 2 inches...Deeper sand is said to trap more gas. If you did go deeper im thinking you would have to stir it more often...Like mumma said if you have good flow in your tank you dont need to vac much.. My big plecos long string poo is the only thing that collects. I just pull it out by hand...My kids always say "eeww your touching poop"

Lol that's cute. And I just have a normal filter..by idk who..that my tank came with..probably tetra. I'm thinking of saving up for a better one as well as the new gravel or sand..but idk much about firers other than they keep the water circulating and clean lol. Mine seems ok, but i think i need a better one.

 

[Athaocity]

Painfully wash it in a bathtub until it runs clear. In a bucket though.