Wanting to change substrate, thoughts?

[Smitty]

Howdy,

Right now I have a 55g planted tank with presurized CO2. I've seen some pictures of people that have the play sand and really like the looks of it.

So, I would like to go through the really long process of changing out the rocks to sand. I also have the florite stuff mixed with the rocks, should I get another batch of that? I would really prefer not and just add nutrients as I've been doing anyway.

Plan of action: First, get the play sand and rince it 8-10 times or as much as possible. Any idea how? I was going to put it in a platic bin and do it in the yard. I have a couple plastic storage bins set aside right now for the fish/plants. I plan on filling one with with the current tank water and putting my canister filter in it for flow. I will have another bin with some additional water (but not full) for the existing plants. Then I will drain any remaining water and remove the substrate, then put in the sand and my driftwood then fill partially (1/2) with new water, put in the plants, then add in the fish and fill the remains with the water in the bin with the fish.

Questions: I know that it will be a bit cloudy regardless, is this bad for the fish? Should I just leave the fish in the bin with the filter going overnight to let the tank settle? Any other hints/help?

Thanks!

 

[meegosh]

Well I just switched from gravel to play sand. I got a 50lb bag of Quikrete Premium Play sand at home depot for $3.52. It took me a good 8 or so rinses to get it to the point where I was satisfied. Even at 8 rinses, it probably wouldn't hurt to do some more. I did it in my bathtub since I have an apartment, no hose outside. I angled the bucket so the water would run out while I stirred it with my hand.

One thing to note, make sure before you add the sand that you match it temperature wise to what the temp should be at. This is more of a concern if you are leaving your fish in (I wouldn't recommend that). You can shock the fish by adding cold sand into a warm tank. I added two peppered cories about 10-20 minutes after adding the sand. I waited until it was pretty clear, you can see in my pictures.

I am really impressed with how much better the tank looks. It does seem really easy to keep clean, all the detritus simply sets on top of the sand and simple wave of the gravel vac sucks it right up. I practiced before I added fish to the tank. I had some java moss trimmings that settled on the bottom and my OCD side came out and I had to clean it!

I'm not sure as far as the nutrients/soil is concerned. I just added two root tabs under my two swords. I'm planning on getting some kuhli loaches today to help keep the sand stirred. We'll see how that goes, I'm sure I'll still need to manually stir occassionaly.

Pics of my tank before, during and after the change:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f44/switched-substrate-114660.html

 

[Smitty]

Thanks for the reply! Your changeover was the one that tipped the scales for me as I loved the new look I saw in that other thread! I have the same odd colored stones and have never been happy with it.

I didn't think about the sand being a different color.

Since I do have some bins and can keep my fish in there with the filter running I can get away with waiting longer before putting the fish back in which is why I was planning it that route.

 

[Smitty]

Is there any specific type of play sand?

Nevermind, I just saw in your last post what was.

 

[WhiteDevil]

I am on my first sand base tank, got a kuhli in there too, well he was the reason I went to sand, didnt think he was happy with the gravel since he never burrowed.

I am getting ready to take some pics, I will make a thread in the showcase sub-forum. Its got poo on top too so you can see.


I used white aquarium sand, its much finer then the play sand, if you got a HOT filter, get a pre-filter over the intake. I went thru 3 150 penguins in 1 week due to the fine sand that constantly stays suspended.

 

[Smitty]

What is HOT? I have a Rena XP2 canister filter.

At any rate the changeover is complete. Looks awesome. I took photos and will be posting them in just a bit once I DL them from the camera.

 

[Smitty]

Ok, here are the pictures: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f19/also-switch-the-substrate-114804.html#post972037

 

[WhiteDevil]

HOT is Hang off Tank, basically another name for the powerfilter.


your golden with the canister filter

just do yourself a preventative maintence favor, get a prefilter for the intake tube. Im on my 4th HOT filter due to sand and impellers not wanting to hang out with eachother, the impeller got pissed and started screaming.

I got a tetra XL45 now going to a fluval 305 in a few weeks.

 

[Smitty]

Well, I got a round, very porus filter and some stocking to cover it to help. I got that at the LFS before starting but totally forgot to put it on last night.

I think I have an issue and need to replace the motor of my XP2 anyway (even before this started) because it really isn't flowing very well...

 

[WhiteDevil]

Is it clogged or any debris in it? algae in the tubes?

I was looking at that filter you got when I was having the problems with the sand/impeller chaos that the marinelands just couldnt hold up to. How old is your SP2 I only learned of them a few months ago from petsmart.( I got a dedicated manager that has helped me for nearly 2 years with tank issues and fish compatiblity, worked for petco they can go choke) and she told me they are really nothing more then the others offer with more expensive parts and media. I got a tight budget I gotta work with what I got and improve on things already aquired, it is what it is for now.

Do you have adjustable flow rate on that model? I cant find mine and its supposed to be at the top of the tube, not even sure what that does to be honest.

 

[Smitty]

I've cleaned it a couple times and couldn't find any debris. There is algae growing in it, but not much.... I would hate to think that small amount would cut the flow down. When I first got it the thing would just crank but that stopped after about 2-3 weeks (before any algae was present).

Oh, I've had it about 2 months now.

 

[CTD]

I placed a Danner Prefilter on my Fluval 404 heres a picture.

 

[CTD]

Heres were I bought my Danner Prefilter the strainer on my uplift tube fit perfectly into the strainer in the prefilter: Danner Foam Pre-filter for Mag-Drive / Pondmaster Pumps Models 9.5, 12 & 18

Heres a round and smaller Danner Perfilter: http://www.petstore.com/ps_ViewItem-idProduct-DN5113.html

Here is another Prefilter: Aquarium Systems Foam Pre-Filter Replacement 2-Pack Foam & Sponges

 

[WhiteDevil]

Id check google to see if anyone else is having problems, might be a design flaw.

 

[Smitty]

Well, I put the pre-filter on and will see how that goes. I like the one posted because it looks a lot better that what I'm doing.

I actually took the time (a LOT of time) to clean the tubes and it really did help with the flow. I guess I was wrong. I'll need to figure out a better way to clean those things because I couldn't get it all out.

 

[WhiteDevil]

use a bristle brush on a stick, usually in the cleaning section of home stores, dryer pipe brushes are too big but they make em smaller for what you need.


Here was my prefilter.

I encased the entire intake tube with it due to midlevel option and the end that feeds directly into the impeller, helped for a while but eventually I got to 3 wraps on it and it was still making noise( cleaned the impeller set very well and bought a new impeller nothing helped) so I canned it and dont even need a prefilter on the tetra XL I have now.

 

[Smitty]

Well, I at least figured out the problem! Ok, my LFS did. He said that most likely it was some kind of buildup on the impeller shaft (it is a big magnet) and he recommended using vinegar to clean it.

I did go to Lowes as well and grabbed a pipe cleaner and was able to really clean the tubes.

Since I did both I don't know which one helped more (I really think it was cleaning the impeller). Regardless, the flow is WAY up, just like it was before. I'll just add this to my monthly cleaning list (sigh).

 

[WhiteDevil]

both helped, the algae slowed down the flow( like air over a clean car vs a dirty car aka turbulence) and the impeller just caught what came thru and built up on it.

Congrats on getting the problem solved.