Addiing sand

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nicksgirl

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
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I have set up a new display tank without any substrate. (I realize now this may have been a mistake becaue now I want to add sand).

I bought both live and dry sand. (I will wash the dry sand before adding) My question is: How do I get the sand into the tank without clouding the water too much?

I had planned to use a piece of 2" pvc pipe to pour the sand all the way to the floor of the tank but since I bought live sand (which is wet) I doubt it will move through the pipe as I had hoped.

Any advice? Thanks!
Becks
 
Baggies.

Rinse and swish the sand around in a bucket and pour off the silty water a few times.
Then load the sand into baggies, and empty them gently on the bottom of your tank.
You are still going to get some cloudiness. It's unavoidable, but this should cut it down by a lot.
I've never found a method that is 100% foolproof yet. :?

Make sure you turn off your PH and pumps for a while after adding it.
I've ruined the impellers in at least 6 different HOB and PH.
 
loyalrogue said:
I've never found a method that is 100% foolproof yet. :?

I agree. No matter what you do it`s going to get cloudy some. The baggies and PVC will help some. As far as ruining any equipement You might want to cut them off for several hours.
 
I use a large plastic cup and pour the sand where I want it to go. Of course I only do this to add sand here and there as it is washed around. I've never had to add 3+ inches to a tank after it was set up and running. I agree with everyone else about making sure that your pumps are off and remain off for a couple of hours. HTH Good luck!!
 
Another vote for baggies - the big gallon freezer ziplocs. Fill them up halfway, squish out all the air and seal them up. Submerse, turn upside down, and unzip. You'll need to kind of "push" the sand out.

Have all your sand rinsed and in buckets in front of you as you want to work FAST. You will get a minor sand storm even with the baggie method and if you work fast you can at least get as much as possible in before you can't seen your hands anymore!

I was going to use the PVC pipe method, but my rock arrangement really didn't lend itself well to that idea.
 
Baggies sound like a great idea. I used a big plastic bowl (but I didn't have any rock in my tank, at that time), but I think I'll try the baggies next time.
 
i used a big tupperware plastic bowl also. i already had live rock in there too, and i didn't have any problems. what i did was just fill up the tupperware bowl with my dry sand, rinse it out with some cold fresh water, and then slowly drop the bowl into the bottom of my tank in a spot away from my rocks. i had already shifted all my rock to one side of the tank. once the bowl was in the bottom of the tank, i slowly scooped it out with my hands onto the bottom of the tank, then just kind of slid it around until i had it where i wanted it. and it is a good idea to make sure everything is turned off. otherwise it will get extra cloudy. good luck
 
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