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Sand is excellent but it does show up every tiny piece of muck and dirt. Good for cleaning I suppose but I do get a bit carried away and end up sucking some sand up too when i'm vacuuming. Looks lovely though when it's clean. I have really pale sand that looks white with the lights on. Maybe that's my problem! Ha! Hope someone can help you figure out how much. If you do go down the sand route make sure you rinse it really thoroughly. Once you think it's rinsed enough, rinse some more. There's some crazy amounts of dust in it that fog up your tank for a day or two before it all settles.
 
Mcor said:
Sand is excellent but it does show up every tiny piece of muck and dirt. Good for cleaning I suppose but I do get a bit carried away and end up sucking some sand up too when i'm vacuuming. Looks lovely though when it's clean. I have really pale sand that looks white with the lights on. Maybe that's my problem! Ha! Hope someone can help you figure out how much. If you do go down the sand route make sure you rinse it really thoroughly. Once you think it's rinsed enough, rinse some more. There's some crazy amounts of dust in it that fog up your tank for a day or two before it all settles.
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I think I would like black sand... What Kim of sand you I get?
 
FishyKisses said:
You will love the water changer! What use to take me an hour, now takes 10 minutes! Love it!

I agree that sand looks better. How would I go about changing over to sand? How much would I need for a 30 gallon?
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Yeah I have a pain, partically in my back, changing the water. I do around 40g(total) a week on my three tanks. I use a 20ltr container, so it's many trips back and forth and up the stairs!!!. Can't wait to get it. Took me a while too get it, at a decent price, $40.
To switch, you would need to remove all fish, décor, gravel, filter. If you have a couple of large buckets just put everything, except the gravel, into these. The key is to keep everything wet, to keep the BB alive. Then fill and empty your tank to remove any dirt left from the gravel. Wash the sand really well and add it to the tank. Half fill, put everything back, then fill back up. It sounds daunting but trust me, it's super easy, it just takes a bit of time, few hours.
There is a few types of sand you can use. Kids playsand, blasting sand, pool filter sand and sand bought from petstores(most expensive). Most people seem to use either the pool filter sand or blasting sand. I believe it's about $8 for a fifty pound bag. This would be more than enough for your tank....
 
Ian086 said:
Yeah I have a pain, partically in my back, changing the water. I do around 40g(total) a week on my three tanks. I use a 20ltr container, so it's many trips back and forth and up the stairs!!!. Can't wait to get it. Took me a while too get it, at a decent price, $40.
To switch, you would need to remove all fish, décor, gravel, filter. If you have a couple of large buckets just put everything, except the gravel, into these. The key is to keep everything wet, to keep the BB alive. Then fill and empty your tank to remove any dirt left from the gravel. Wash the sand really well and add it to the tank. Half fill, put everything back, then fill back up. It sounds daunting but trust me, it's super easy, it just takes a bit of time, few hours.
There is a few types of sand you can use. Kids playsand, blasting sand, pool filter sand and sand bought from petstores(most expensive). Most people seem to use either the pool filter sand or blasting sand. I believe it's about $8 for a fifty pound bag. This would be more than enough for your tank....
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Hmmmm....I wonder if there is a way to dye the sand once I get it home?!?!
 
FishyKisses said:
Hmmmm....I wonder if there is a way to dye the sand once I get it home?!?!
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You can get black blasting sand. Try home depot or similar stores. I certainly wouldn't use dye!!. You should go the whole way and paint the back of the tank black. Again, very easy, super cheap and it CAN be removed easily, in the future. It makes everything in the tank stand out. I done mine a while back and it's the second best thing I ever done, Aquarium wise.....
 
Ian086 said:
You can get black blasting sand. Try home depot or similar stores. I certainly wouldn't use dye!!. You should go the whole way and paint the back of the tank black. Again, very easy, super cheap and it CAN be removed easily, in the future. It makes everything in the tank stand out. I done mine a while back and it's the second best thing I ever done, Aquarium wise.....
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Oh, can you post a pic? I would love to see it!
 
Ian086 said:
Personally I use kids playsand but it looks like this,
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That's the color I want. I like the idea of the black background too...now to convince my hubby to let me! Lol, he thinks its fine the way it is...
 
FishyKisses said:
That's the color I want. I like the idea of the black background too...now to convince my hubby to let me! Lol, he thinks its fine the way it is...
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Show him some pictures, when you see it, especially in person, imo it looks amazing. It will change the whole look of your tank. The fishes and plants colour looks a lot more intense. I can get you a video of how to do the painting, if you want....
 
Ian086 said:
Show him some pictures, when you see it, especially in person, imo it looks amazing. It will change the whole look of your tank. The fishes and plants colour looks a lot more intense. I can get you a video of how to do the painting, if you want....
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That would be nice! It shouldn't be too hard to convince him...if he still doesn't like the idea, he knows I will end up doing it anyways. Lol, we have an understanding of sorts.
 
FishyKisses said:
That would be nice! It shouldn't be too hard to convince him...if he still doesn't like the idea, he knows I will end up doing it anyways. Lol, we have an understanding of sorts.
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My gf used to be like that...haha. I had to sneak stuff into the house. She has NO interest in fish, just the money that they cost...lol. She has given up now, as long as the mortgage and bills are paid!!!!. Your husband must realize that this is an addiction, not a bad one but an addiction all the same...lol

 
Ian086 said:
My gf used to be like that...haha. I had to sneak stuff into the house. She has NO interest in fish, just the money that they cost...lol. She has given up now, as long as the mortgage and bills are paid!!!!. Your husband must realize that this is an addiction, not a bad one but an addiction all the same...lol

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I think he realizes that now. His addiction is tools and firefighting equipment! His is way more expensive!
 
Cactuspixie said:
That's java fern- it will grow nicely if you tie it to some wood or rocks. It's a very hardy plant- if you dont remove the 'dying' leaves, you will get lots of new ferns growing.
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Thank you for the info! I couldn't remember for the life of me what it is!
 
So back to the topic, I would try that Sprite or Wisteria, float it, give it a week or two, carry on with your usual PWC's and then you'll know if it works. The other things, painting, sand are more cosmetic. Although the sand will help with waste build up. As was previously said, it does show up more dirt but it should encourage you to maintain the tank better. If you can't see it, it is very easy to 'forget' to remove it.....
 
Ian086 said:
So back to the topic, I would try that Sprite or Wisteria, float it, give it a week or two, carry on with your usual PWC's and then you'll know if it works. The other things, painting, sand are more cosmetic. Although the sand will help with waste build up. As was previously said, it does show up more dirt but it should encourage you to maintain the tank better. If you can't see it, it is very easy to 'forget' to remove it.....
Click to expand...

I posted to see if anyone has either or both plants. I would like to get away from the fake plants that I have anyways. I def want to swap to sand though!
 
FishyKisses said:
I posted to see if anyone has either or both plants. I would like to get away from the fake plants that I have anyways. I def want to swap to sand though!
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They would both be considered beginner/easy care plants so would be quite popular and most members with plants would've had them at one stage or another!!.
If you do go ahead with either or both the painting/sand, feel free to PM me and I will gladly help you out if needed....
 
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