Thinking of switching to sand

[Fishyfriend09]

I was just wondering how difficult this would be to do with a tank that is already set up with fish in it, would i need to take all the fish out while i was putting the new sand in or would it be ok for the fish to be in there?

 

[DragonFish71]

Take them out first. Put them in a bucket or storage type container (clean) with the heater and filter. Finish draining tank, scoop out old gravel, put in rinsed sand, refill, let settle, add filter, heater, let settle again, add fish, check water for mini cycle for a few days. Nothing to it

 

[HN1]

Take them out first. Put them in a bucket or storage type container (clean) with the heater and filter. Finish draining tank, scoop out old gravel, put in rinsed sand, refill, let settle, add filter, heater, let settle again, add fish, check water for mini cycle for a few days. Nothing to it

When do you put water in the bucket? lol j/k

+1.

 

[Fishyfriend09]

sounds possible, though i may have to get a bigger bucket or something to keep them in since the biggest one i have is only 3 gallons. also a problem with the filter as it is a wet/dry type filter so it cannot really be put into a bucket or anything. I will probably be doing this in the summer so what i could do just now is put my Fluval U2 into the tank alongside the main filter so i can get some good bacteria growing on the songe pads. How long roughly would the fish be in the bucket?

 

[blackomen]

Just depends on how fast you work

 

[Twoapennything]

I switched to sand from gravel and OMG I will never go back to gravel. I'm using all my old tank gravel for my garden this year (going into the bottom of the pots before I plant. The sand is really nice. I have black sand in one tank and white sand in another.

I switched out the gravel for the sand without the fish in the tank. The sand will need to be thoroughly rinsed - there is a lot of residue in the sand. Or, if you dump it into the tank with the fish, be prepared to do a billion water changes to get that residue out of there. It's easier to do without the fish.

I think it's worth the money to got out and spend less than $50 on a 10 gallon aquarium set up to keep on hand for situations like this, and just as a general quarantine tank. I did this and it was a really helpful purchase. The bucket method probably works just as well - I'm a n00b, so I felt a little nervous about trying the bucket method, which is why I forked over the cash for a basic Tetra Fin 10 gallon kit.

The sand is beautiful and was totally worth the trouble, IMO.

 

[meegosh]

Rather than get another tank just buy a large rubber maid container. I bought one at target when I switched to sand in my 30g long. It was less than $5 for a ~18g container with lid. I can even move my filter over and hang it off the side.

 

[Robd]

Why do you love the sand? I put a area of white sand in my planted. it always looks dirty on top and Im worried about it going anarobic

 

[meegosh]

I personally like the sand because it looks a lot more natural than gravel. The other main reason is my bottom feeders love digging around in it.

I think a lot of people get scared off of sand because these nasty air pockets everyone keeps talking about. To be honest, it is no big deal. I take my fish net and turn it upside down and run it through the sand bed maybe once a month. After the first month or so I haven't seen any bubbles come up when I do it. I chalked the initial ones up to trapped air from when I added my sand.

I don't know if it is the snails that are stirring it enough but over the past 3 or 4 months I haven't seen any bubbles come up whenever I stir it around.

 

[BigJim]

I went to sand for a couple of reasons:

1. I wanted something different. I'd always had gravel substrates.
2. Sand is cheap. I've converted three tanks over to sand substrate for $6.
3. My bottom feeders absolutely love it. My cories are constantly digging for food and my raphael makes his own hidey-holes.
4. Sand stays cleaner than gravel. I don't really vacuum into the sand. My MTS and the flow in the tank keep the sand pretty clean.

Robd, my white sand doesn't really stay pure white. I think it's actually algae living in the sand in my case. If the sand is turning a dark black, it's going anaerobic. My 29g with the play sand started forming little black pockets before my MTS population was established. It shouldn't go anaerobic at the surface, just deeper in the sand.

 

[Robd]

cool cool, definatly gonna get me an all sand set up some day I def. enjoy whatching my corys in the little sand that I have. Need to get some MTS though

 

[blackomen]

MTS are definitely awesome for sand, I have 3 tanks with play sand. I haven't had any "air pockets" since I introduced them. And since then the texture of the sand is noticeably different. Before it felt like it was pounded down and now it is kinda "fluffy." And it is cool to see the fish play in the sand.

 

[DragonFish71]

When do you put water in the bucket? lol j/k

+1.

You mean you're supposed to put water in the bucket? Oh heck, that's where I went wrong.

 

[Walmart]

I just switched my 55g from gravel to sand and i love it and so do my fish, i put my fish in a 20g holder tank and drained the main all the way and put the sand in

 

[Twoapennything]

BigJim pretty much answered the "why we love sand" question. My sand isn't pure white either, but I don't expect it stay alabaster white when it's contained in an environment with water, fish, and algae! I also don't have a planted tank, so that something I don't have to worry about when it comes to sand.