hop2jr

I read if you use pool filter sand you don't have to rinse it before using is this true? And is it safe to put the fish back in right after putting the sand in the tank?

GreenMan13

I would put it in a bucket and fill it with tap water and mix it. See if the water looks cloudy and if not then you can put it in the tank.

Are you switching from gravel? If so you will want to keep the gavel in the tank until the sand has time to grow bacteria on it. And you want to wait for the sand to settle before putting the fish back in the tank.

hop2jr

Thanks! doing it after work will post a pic after. An try finding pool filter sand in Ohio in March people at the Hardware store looked at me like a retard! Finally found it a the second pool supply store and they looked at me alittle strange. lol Of course there still snow on the ground here cann't blame'em i guess.

andy65

My brother used that for his tank.

All you have to do is give a very good rinse.

Put some sand in a NEW/never used bucket,put the bucket in your tub,fill the bucket with water, then use your hand to stir the sand a bit, pour the water out. Do that a few time till the water runs clean enough so you can see the sand in the buck.
Oh and clean out your tub BEFORE YOU USE IT AGAIN. Don't ask why. I think you can think of it.

DONE.

I would wait to put you fish for a bit. The water will not be to cloudy since you rinsed the sand before hand.
Also do half or 1/4 of your gravel at a time if you changing over to sand, then wait 2 weeks before removing more gravel.

GreenMan13

I changed my tank over in January and was not able to find pool filter sand for the same reason. Not many people have pools here and where ever I asked for it they looked at me funny and said they will not have it tell at least spring. Thats why I went with play sand but that is a pain to rinse since it take a long time to rinse it completely.

And like andy said, if it is an already established tank with gravel, do it a bit at a time. That was one thing that I failed at doing and it will cause a cycle to happen.

hop2jr

Well should have read here but after work rised all sand clean 1/2 hr of stir and pour I did take all the gravel out but saved the water put the sand in and put water back gf got alittle close putting some sand in to close to filter cleaned it out and worked like a champ. Waited 2 hrs water was pretty clean so I added fish and there water from tank temp was the same.Fish seem to love the sand but amonia is .25 nitrites between .25 and 0 and nirtates are 10 I also put a stocking full of the old gravel and hung it in the tank. guess this is a mini cycle right?

andy65

yep, you have a cycle there.

LOTS of water changes (50% daily or two 25% a day,morning and evening) and some Prime would help too.

hop2jr

Yep thought so should of checked here first but I was happy to find the sand. How long do you think the cycle will last I'm hopeing the gravel will help speed things up.

GreenMan13

The gravel will help. How heavily stocked is the tank in terms of fish? Hopefully you only have a minicycle. I would just keep an eye on the ammonia level and wait on the water changes daily until it goes up some more. The reason for this is that ammonia of only .25 will most likely not be that bad for the fish compared to water changes which will introduce about that much just from being tap water so the cycle will not end.

From my experience with changing sand just like you did but not using the gravel (you can look at my 55 gal thread)...the tank was clear for the first couple days. I had 10 black neons and 1 8-10 inch pleco in the tank. After a couple days the water got cloudy and the ammonia went sky high. By sky high I mean 8 ish. I did water changed in the amounts of 50% for a while but nothing changed. I went to 30% water changes for a while still keeping an eye on the fish stress level, still no change. After about 4-6 weeks of no change in any of the levels (ammonia=8, nitrate=0, nitrite=0) I went to only about 4 gallons of water change, this was to just vacuum out the **** that the pleco left every day on the sand. Then in a day or two, the nitrite sky rocketed and then the nitrate and the tank cleared up in about a week and a half of all the ammonia. I only had one black neon die through this whole thing and none of the other fish ever looked stressed.

I guess what I'm trying to suggest is not to do 50% water changes since I think they will hurt more then help since from my experience fast changes in the water chemistry hurt the fish more then living in slightly unideal water. With your tank, by keeping the gravel in the tank and keeping the water, I think the ammonia should dissipate quickly without water changes and it will only be a mini cycle.

hop2jr

Greenman Thanks for the advise I was worried about stessing the fish I have 6-D Molleys 2 Kuli Loaches 1 Butterfly Loach and 2 A Corey's The fish look good alittle stressed but swimming and eating. I will keep and eye on ammonia but my nirtates are 20 now so I think its a mini cycle everything just trying to catch up.Thanks again!

hop2jr

Friday mini cycle over ammonai 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 10 going to keep the gravel in a couple days more just to be safe. Here is a couple of pics with the new sand.

Attached Images

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