New sand..

[Marconis]

As many of you all know, your tastes in this hobby change quickly, sometimes too quickly. In April, I bought Tahitian Moon Sand. I originally had PFS, but it was a bit too "brown" for me. I do like my THS, but deep down I think I'll always have that love for nice, very white sand (like in reef tanks). Although I like the TMS...I don't know, it doesn't feel too natural to me for Lake Malawi and I guess I like the "Caribbean" look better.

http://thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/203903/product.web

Is aragonite nice and white in person?

 

[theotheragentm]

It says "color can vary" so I wouldn't assume anything. I bet it's a range.

 

[JustOneMore20]

White sand won't always be nice and white unless you can guarantee you won't have any algae. Also, with white sand, you will be able to see all the nice poop from your cichlids.

 

[Zagz]

I thought about white sand but considered the amount of gunk I would be able to see on it and decided against it. Esp with cichlids.

 

[SparKy697]

At the rate Marco changes his tank, I bet the white sand never gets dirty

 

[dskidmore]

Is aragonite nice and white in person?

Are you trying to increase your water hardness?

 

[Marconis]

Well, I do have Africans so I guess it'd be a good idea.

-To all those who say it's gonna get dirty, won't a weekly sifting of the sand and vacuuming do the trick? I mean, when I do PWC's I swirl the python over the sand and it picks up a lot of poo.

 

[dskidmore]

I think you could keep it reasonably clean, I'm just concerned that the effect on your water chemistry will be too strong if you're not already starting with soft water.

 

[Marconis]

Then I won't get aragonite I guess.

 

[Marconis]

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18315/si1379462/cl0/caribseawhitemarinesand20lbs

$14 for 20lbs, and it is pure white! Any info on this sand? Says it is OK for freshwater. Could I get away with buying just 40lbs for a 46 gallon? When I bought my TMS, I had to buy 60lbs, so I had a lot of extra sand laying around. I will try extra hard on this to keep it free of poop by doing a much better job when vacuuming. I just really like the way this looks in cichlid tanks. Thanks in advance.

 

[dskidmore]

Well, it says it won't affect pH, so it's not aragonite. Might call the company and ask if it affects hardness.

 

[Marconis]

OK. Do you think I can get away with just 40lbs of sand?

 

[dskidmore]

Well, what's the goal? You going to try to root plants in a cichlid tank? If not, then a thin layer will do fine.

 

[Marconis]

*Well scratch ordering from Big Als, there's a place a couple towns over that has it for $13.

Now I have another question...

1)What's the best way to remove all the sand from the tank?
When I did it previously, it took me hours because I used a dustpan and little brush to get all the extra sand up. If there's a better method, I'd be glad to hear it

I know someone will bring up that the sand layer has a lot of bacteria.Last time I did it, I never noticed a mini cycle after removing it all at once I guess because I have two filters...so that isn't a concern.

 

[dskidmore]

You going to try to keep the tank running while you do this?

If you have any easily stressed fish, or if this sand kicks up clouds, move them to a holding container with their old water.

I'd put a bucket in the tank and use a scoop to move most of the sand into the bucket. When done scooping, you only have to lift over the edge once per bucketful. To get the last bits, you could try a strong siphon (plain tube without the gravel vac attachment, and as long a drop as you can manage.) Depends on the sand as to how effective this is.

 

[Marconis]

Last time I took out my cichlids and put them in a bucket while I did it. I told by some people to stick the siphon in the sand and put it into buckets, so I guess I'll just try that, then use the dustpan or something of the like to get the remaining sand.

 

[Marconis]

I got beautiful sand today. 40lbs of CaribSea Moonlight Sand. Just wondering, why is this sand not on their website (They were all out of the Marine Sand, so I just got this).