Sand and Tiger barbs?

[lreilly]

Will Green tiger barbs do ok with a sandy substate? Just want to make sure before I change out the gravel.

 

[William]

They live in a sandy bottom enviroment in the wild, don't they?

 

[lreilly]

Ok, your right I am tired and double checking everything. I wanted to make a more natural home, but things are not all ways the same when duplicated. Just making sure I could do it. Its my first sand bottom and just nervous I guess.

 

[TankGirl]

I kept tiger barbs in a sand substrate tank - no problem. They are really mid-top dwellers so I did not see any difficulty.

Just be careful when you change out the substrate - I have started a mini-cycle doing this, and that was with a Bio-wheel tank, too. Next time I will change out a quarter or a third on an every-other-day basis to prevent this. Or, you could dose Bio-Spira and do it all at once! 8) I love modern conveniences.

 

[lreilly]

I have never seen mine touch the bottom. Even when the are chasing sinking food they stop short. I just needed the reassurance. Thanks. I think the Bio-Spira is the best bet for me . Just doing it all at once seems less stressful than streching it over a week or so.

 

[TankGirl]

I think the Bio-Spira is the best bet for me . Just doing it all at once seems less stressful than streching it over a week or so.

I am totally with you on that!

Forgive me if you know this stuff already, but I want to mention that with sand substrate you have to stir it up periodically, about once a month, to keep anaerobic patches from developing, as it will pack down over time. If you want to keep this under good control (depending upon the other tank inhabitants, and whether or not you want to risk the hassle of snail overpopulation) you should get yourself some Malaysian trumpet snails, as they burrow in the sand and come out at night. They do a great job of keeping the substrate healthy.

 

[lreilly]

I knew about having to move around the sand, but thanks for making sure. I have never had any snails and really don't care for them. But if they would be better than me manually moving the sand once a week during water changes I will consider them. This tank is small 10 gal and has a variety of plants. How many snails would I need? And is there any way to stop them from reproducing? If not then I think that I will just have to do the extra maintaining myself.

 

[TankGirl]

If it is a 10gal then you can probably just do it by hand now and again, if you don't care for snails. That is a manageable size so no biggie! Snails can get out of hand so easily, not that I would know, of course....

 

[Menagerie]

A little off topic, but still about sand--
TG--I put in 3 inches (or so) of sand in the 29 gal for my Lake T biotope. Is that too much sand? It is my understanding that shellies will dig and dig. I know I will have to move it around, and then the shellies will have something to do--kind of like ants when you mess with their ant hills.

 

[TankGirl]

I think for shellies the more sand the better. The bury their shells, so if your shells are a couple of inches tall then it is good to have more than that for them to play with. Depending on how you decorate the rest of the tank, you might not have to worry about anaerobic patches at all. Be sure you protect your filter (again, you may know this - I forget what has been discussed!) because that sand will surely tear it up. For shellies with all that digging it does stir things up more than the average sand tank. I like to shove an AC mini sponge over the end of the intake tube.

 

[Menagerie]

I like to shove an AC mini sponge over the end of the intake tube.

Thanks! I wasn't sure how we were going to keep the filter safe. There will be some rocks on one end of the tank--if the brichardi live there (still not sure). If rock is there, I will take most of the sand out of that area. Although from what I have seen, the shellies may end up burying the brichardi.