How do I safely remove sand from a tank?

[sistermoon]

I LOVE the sand in my tank, as do my emerald cats. However, my HOB filters do not. I am now on my SEVENTH filter in about three months and frankly, I can't keep going like this.

I have a 20 gallon FW with emerald cats and a molly with a sand substrate. I also have a 35 gallon with a canister filter currently cycling, and it also has a sand substrate. It was going to be a BW tank for my molly but since I think (HOPE) the canister can handle the sand better, it will be the future home for the emeralds. My HOB for the 20 gallon just died and since I have to replace it with another one, I have decided to remove the sand immediately and leave the tank bare bottomed until I move the emeralds out.

So my questions is...how do I remove the sand? I've heard that I can just siphon it out, but what is the best thing to do with the fish in the meantime? I do not have a hospital tank ready, nor big enough to house all of the fish while I'm doing this. Will they be ok if I just put them in a temporary bowl with their current tank water and then acclimate them in a few hours once the sand is removed? I'm just worried about stressing them as little as possible. I have silk plants in the tank and, of course, all the old media so I'm hoping I'm not losing too much bacteria with the sand and even if I do that we'll be able to bounce back quickly.

I'm really disappointed. I loved having the sand but I can't keep going through HOBs like they grow from trees.

Thanks!
Desiree

 

[mfdrookie516]

You could put a sponge on your intake, since this is apparently a very fine sand. Or, if you just want to ditch it all together, the easiest way IMO would be to remove some at a time by siphoning it out without the gravel vac tube on the end... just do as much as you can get out at a time until you get down to about 50% of your water, then refill, wait a day, and do some more. Shouldn't take very long.

 

[sistermoon]

My last two filters have been AquaClear 50s and I wedged a AquaClear sponge of that size onto the intake, which is several inches above the sand floor...and I still had issues, always leading to seized motors.

I clean the tank (PWC, light vacuum) every 1-2 weeks. When I start I turn off the filter for anywhere from 8-12 hours so that the sand can resettle and no matter what I have issues afterwards.

Oh, and the sand is very, very fine which I assume was a mistake despite how much the fish love it.
I used the Marine Sand:
http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/instant_aquarium.html

 

[Batt4Christ]

My perception of the issue w/sand and HOB filters (and the reason I'm contemplating a partial switch TO sand, leaving gravel in the area nearest the HOB intake) is that these filters have the incoming water and wasted hit the impeller chamber before any filter media. All canisters I have ever had, the water is pulled through the media, then into the impeller, which protects it.

I think the advice given by the other poster would help you a lot- find some sponge or other media that you can put on the intake of your HOB- that should minimize sand damage.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I've never had the issue, though the only sand I use is PFS. It's heavy enough that it will not get sucked up by a filter unless the intake is literally on the bottom. Are you sure its the sand causing the filter to stop working? Have you actually found sand in the filter?

 

[sistermoon]

Well I have gone through 7 filters of two different types. Though I never really saw a lot of sand grit, and I rinsed them like crazy, once the filters dried completely I found a lot of dried sand in the filter.

So no I guess I can't be sure they have all failed because of the sand, but I'm not really sure what else could cause that kind of damage to so many filters.