Want to change to sand

[00youknowit00]

I have black gravel in my 20H, I liked it till I started to get into having a planted tank (its kinda hard to get plants to stay rooted, especially Amazon Sword, Anubias, and Wisteria), and really like the idea of having sand instead. I've heard PFS is the way to go, works really well and cheap. I don't care much for substrate that has nutrients in it since they'll eventually run out, why pay the extra, and I already does with Flourish.

So my questions:

1) Do y'all agree PFS would be the way to go?
2) Where can I get it?
3) How would be the best way to go about changing it out? Since I have fish and shrimp in the tank and they don't have anywhere else to go.

Also any other advice would be great!
Thanks!

 

[jcolon]

I was in a similar situation ... black gravel on the surface w/ tan gravel underneath. I just dumped the PFS on top of the gravel, replanted so some sand feel into the gravel and as the days passed, the sand left on the surface basically sifted it's way through the gravel. So, it is possible to have PFS underneath and keep the look of black gravel on the surface.

If you are however looking to change the look of the substrate, then you can switch it over in sections, do 1/4 of the substrate at a time. IMO ... PFS does a much better job at keeping the plants rooted.

 

[00youknowit00]

What about getting it into the tank? Just handfull it in? My only hesitent is having cloudy water cause of the sand.. I know to put it in a bucket and run a hose to the bottom, then pump water through till it is overflowing clean, clear water, correct?

 

[alLexX]

when i changed mine i put the fish and shrimp and frogs in icecream containers and put the filter in a bucket,then drained the water and took out the hravel and dumped in the sand,the put the heater and filter back,filled it up(dont forget to dechlorinate the water),let the temp get back up,reacclimated them,and added them.

 

[jcolon]

What about getting it into the tank? Just handfull it in? My only hesitent is having cloudy water cause of the sand.. I know to put it in a bucket and run a hose to the bottom, then pump water through till it is overflowing clean, clear water, correct?

It's not much of a worry with PFS ... it's coarse enough to settle rather quickly. Do however ... thoroughly rinse it off ... the sand will settle but the dust it comes with will cloud the tank.

You could rinse it your method. I basically took 4 cups of PFS which I boiled over and over ... would boil ... drain, rinse, reboil ... etc until the rinse water looked clear.

Another method members have used is to put the PFS in a pillowcase and hold under a shower. It may take several minutes, but the dust will pass through the case while the sand stays behind. IMO this is probably the best method since you have the water and gravity on your side.

 

[00youknowit00]

Alright, well there's a pool shop across from my neighborhood, guessing they'll have PFS ;P ill have to go check it out in a minute.

 

[00youknowit00]

Have my sand now I love the price too! $13 for 50lbs. Won't be able to start the process till tomorrow though.

 

[00youknowit00]

What would be the cons of changing it all over, all at once?

 

[Patterson333]

Well, I suppose it would be the danger of causing a mini-cycle by killing off all the biofilm in your gravel in one go.

That said, a friend of mine changed his tank from gravel to sand all at once and he didn't have any issues. It's my understanding that the vast majority of beneficial bacteria resides in filter media, maybe someone more knowledgable than me could chime in on that one though.

 

[KreativJustin]

I've been wanting to do sand, so taking this all down. I will be getting a new 75 gallon, luckily I will still have the old home for my little guys n girls before I get the new home setup.

I have heard the pillow case trick, and actually did it with 2 new rocks that I got from the LFS. I hung 2 new rocks outside and just fit the garden hose into the top of the pillow case. I let it run for a little bit, then siphoned a buckets worth of tank water into my bucket, let the rocks soak for awhile, and in they went.

There was a lot of dust that came with the rocks, but after properly getting them rinsed, there was virtually a very low percentage when done. I put the rocks in the tank and they didn't 'cloud' up.

 

[tarpon]

I changed all my gravel to sand here's how I did it.
I put the needed sand in a bucket and put a garden hose in and push the hose to the bottom. Let the water overflow and all the tiny particles will flow out. Keep doing until the water is clear. Its much easier than repeatedly boiling.

As for changing I scooped one side of the tanks gravel out and replaced with sand using the bottle method. With all decorations pushed on the other side. Then put the decorations back on the sand side and did the other side. Then replaced all. No water cloudiness, no mini cycle, fish were fine

 

[tarpon]

To avoid a mini cycle you can put the gravel that you took out in media bags and leave it in your tank on the sand for a few weeks

 

[KreativJustin]

I do have a question though. Gravel needs to be vac'd out, what about sand? How do you clean the bottom of a sand tank...

 

[Jammer89]

A piece of pantyhose over the end of the vac?

I don't have sand but this seems to be the best way, I could be wrong though. It's happened before.

 

[tarpon]

No bc then the poo wouldn't get sucked up.
You hover the vacuum above the sand and the waste and flakes get sucked up but not the sand. Experiment with the right distance from the sand. Its really easy though especially with pool sand bc its not that fine and sinks back to the bottom right away

 

[eco23]

I've heard of people attaching a fork to the end of the gravel vac to stir things up a bit.

 

[KreativJustin]

No bc then the poo wouldn't get sucked up.
You hover the vacuum above the sand and the waste and flakes get sucked up but not the sand. Experiment with the right distance from the sand. Its really easy though especially with pool sand bc its not that fine and sinks back to the bottom right away

I just read a few guides on the net, and watched a video.

It seems to be common to just stir the sand up at the bottom, come back in 10 minutes when everything settles, and run a siphon/gravel vac a good distance above the bottom of the sand and watch the particles get all sucked up.

I didn't know that it was actually better to use sand in the tank instead of gravel. I've always like the look of sand, I've just heard it can do a number on your filtration.

 

[tarpon]

Oh you just stir the surface up and then vacuum it?

 

[KreativJustin]

Oh you just stir the surface up and then vacuum it?

Not the surface, but the entire sand itself. From top to bottom, so that way you do get as much bacteria and waster as you can removed from under the sand.

and remember, don't stick the vacuum in the sand as you would with gravel. You want to hover a safe distance above the sand, and it will get rid of the unwanted stuff, without sucking out your sand.

 

[tarpon]

Haha I know I've had sand I just never heard of the stirring up thing