I got that caribsand from petco and it is so fine that it has ruined two filters. I want to take it out. The water always looks cloudy from it. I'm trying to figure out the best way to remove it without having to recycle the tank. The sand is just so fine that it hardly settles. Does anybody have advice on how to do this and a different type of sand to use??
Removing sand help!?
- Thread starter Ryun
- Start date
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Aspencer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
You can go to Home Depot or Lowes and get industrial sand which you have to rinse before putting in the tank. I used Quikrete Industrial Sand...$7 for 100 lbs...stays at the bottom of your tank.
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
Just move your fish in to another tank or bucket, keep your filter media wet, and siphon the sand out. Then replace with some larger grained sand, or whatever you prefer, fill it back up, and acclimate your fish. I did this recently and didn't experience any issues. Just be prepared to do a water change or two if you do experience a mini-cycle.
Mr. Limpet
Aquarium Advice Addict
Use your gravel vac and just vacuum the caribsand out. PFS is the best sand I've found and Leslie's Pool Supply sells both silica and non-silica based PFS. I use the latter and it works great, stays put and when vacuuming it settles right back down and no BA.
ejaramillo01
Aquarium Advice Addict
PFS
+1 To Mr Limpet.
Pool Filter Sand is great, I used in my tank, rinsed really well before I added to the tank. The tank was cloudy for like 8 hours, after that has been great, even with the Phyton during cleaning....
+1 To Mr Limpet.
Pool Filter Sand is great, I used in my tank, rinsed really well before I added to the tank. The tank was cloudy for like 8 hours, after that has been great, even with the Phyton during cleaning....
Mr. Limpet
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ryun said:
Use an old pillow case (rinse in HOT water first), fill it 1/2 way with sand and run it under the shower. I knead it like you're making fresh bread and can clean 15-20lbs in about 10 minutes or so.
Aspencer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Put it in a bucket, I used a one gallon, put under faucet, run water straight into container, let run for a minute, empty most water and pour into tank. Mine tank was clear on day later and when I vaccuum, not cloudy at all.
edit: maybe I will have trouble later seeing the Mr. Limpet does it so much longer.
