Sand over Gravel?

[CornerFish]

I currently have a mixture of brown and black standard aquarium gravel (the tiny stuff) in my tank. I want sand.

Would it be okay to put the sand in over the existing gravel?

 

[melosu58]

I`m a SW person but if you add sand over gravel the sand will find a way to get under the gravel because of size.

 

[Chriznat20]

I was wondering the same thing... Good thread.

No intent to hi-jack here, but more to add to the value of this thread... when you get sand, how do you go about 'rinsing' it, or do you not have to? Just put it in a buck with water and swish it around? When you add sand, is it safe to do with fish in the tank?

 

[Asbestos]

Imo just sand in freshwater is hard to keep clean, mixing it with gravel makes it look better, but the gravel will get to the bottom. as for cleaning it, just stick a hose in a bucket full of sand for 5 minutes your fish will have fun swimming in the murky water, but turn of the filter the sandy water can break it, and it will settle in a few days.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i have sand in all of my tanks, and would never go back to gravel for anything. gravel traps debris down in it, sand does not. Sand is way easier to keep clean and looks more natural. Pool filter sand is the best if you want to go with a light tan like you would naturally find in lakes and rivers. Ive had sand in my tanks for months and will never switch back. Mixing it with gravel would eventually cause you to have two layers, sand on the bottom, gravel on top, defeating the purpose. Pull out the gravel and toss in some sand, you wont regret it

 

[Zagz]

Washing sand is easy, time consuming but easy. Put into a bucket and rinse rinse rinse and rinse some more. I use pool filter sand and would not go back. It looks more natural and keeps much cleaner than my gravel used to.

Sand will always go underneath the gravel. It will simply work it's way through the gravel until you see only the gravel.

With sand you have to periodically stir it up a bit to avoid gas pockets but IMO this is a very small thing to do.

 

[IslandHopper]

With sand you have to periodically stir it up a bit to avoid gas pockets but IMO this is a very small thing to do.

That's what Malaysian Trumpet Snails are for!

 

[dkpate]

I second Rookie and Zagz! Sand looks wayyyy better, and like Island said, if you have MTS, then you don't have to do too much maintenance. IMO sand is easier to keep clean than gravel. As for rinsing, just fill a bucket with sand, stick your hose to the bottom, and let it run enough to where the water is going over the side, along with the brown bubbles/foam you will get and smaller particles. Do that until it runs clear.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/tank-journal-225-cichlid-habitat-124880.html

My thread of a 225 with PFS as substrate - 4 50 lb bags of it. It took me about 45 minutes per bag, used a 14g tote, filled with about 1/4 of a bag, hooked a hose to a utility sink, sprayer nozzle, hot & cold on full, spray it full stream down into the sand to make it 'boil' for about 5+ minutes each batch, dumping out the excess murky water about a dozen times in the process, until it's reasonably clear, then I would dump it into a 5g bucket for storage & transport. What's funny is that whatever water is leftover gets forced to the surface, so after you're done, there's an inch of water on top of 16 inches of sand. When I scooped it out, it was pretty packed down. Great stuff.

Only #1 rule - fill the rinse container with a couple inches of water and THEN pour the sand in, very slowly. PFS dust is a health hazard, so you don't want to breathe the dust at all. Even then, you will smell it. Run a vent fan, and if you're really worried about it, wear a mask. I think that's really only a rule that you need to follow when sandblasting with the stuff, but better to be safe.

 

[saywill]

I was wondering the same thing... Good thread.

No intent to hi-jack here, but more to add to the value of this thread... when you get sand, how do you go about 'rinsing' it, or do you not have to? Just put it in a buck with water and swish it around? When you add sand, is it safe to do with fish in the tank?

I have removed crushed coral and added sand to a running tank in the past. It is not really that difficult. Remove all the gravel slowly until it is all out. After rinsing the sand, use a plastic tupperware, or a pint/quart soup container from a chinese restaurant! fill the container with sand, lower the container into the tank with the top facing up, lower it slowly, the sand will stay in the container. Slowly dump the sand on the bottom of the tank were you want it. If you do this slowly, you should have no problem placing the sand.

 

[PaulieFish]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/tank-journal-225-cichlid-habitat-124880.html

My thread of a 225 with PFS as substrate - 4 50 lb bags of it. It took me about 45 minutes per bag, used a 14g tote, filled with about 1/4 of a bag, hooked a hose to a utility sink, sprayer nozzle, hot & cold on full, spray it full stream down into the sand to make it 'boil' for about 5+ minutes each batch, dumping out the excess murky water about a dozen times in the process, until it's reasonably clear, then I would dump it into a 5g bucket for storage & transport. What's funny is that whatever water is leftover gets forced to the surface, so after you're done, there's an inch of water on top of 16 inches of sand. When I scooped it out, it was pretty packed down. Great stuff.

Only #1 rule - fill the rinse container with a couple inches of water and THEN pour the sand in, very slowly. PFS dust is a health hazard, so you don't want to breathe the dust at all. Even then, you will smell it. Run a vent fan, and if you're really worried about it, wear a mask. I think that's really only a rule that you need to follow when sandblasting with the stuff, but better to be safe.

Oh wow 45 minutes per bag, I think thats where I went wrong on my tank. And probably the reason I lost a couple fish. I only rinsed mine for about 10-20 minutes.

 

[Viper]

Oh wow 45 minutes per bag, I think thats where I went wrong on my tank. And probably the reason I lost a couple fish. I only rinsed mine for about 10-20 minutes.

A much simpler method (not to take anything away from Floyd's method) is to put about a 3rd of a bag of sand (the 50 pound bag) into an old pillow case and run that pillow case under a strong faucet. Just put the faucet into the pillow case opening and try to stir up as much sand inside the pillow case as you can by either using your hands or the strong flow of the water. The water coming out of the bottom of the pillow case will be a yellow-tan color. After about 20 minutes of this (per batch of sand) the sand will eventually run clear. At this point, it is good to go and be put in your tank. This method worked for me with great results.

Also, sand is much more natural and elegant than standard gravel.