choochiegirl

is it possible to have sand in half of a tank and gravel on another? My tank is long established and I like the gravel there, but would like to add some sand for my loaches but no room for a 3rd tank , is it possible to add some sand to only one side? Is there a special type of sand to buy and how would I add the sand to 1 area while there is fish & water in there?

agabr123

it's definitely possible, you'd just need something to divide it otherwise it would definitely mix, especially when doing gravel vacs. i recommend pool filter sand absolutely, it's designed to not clog the filter basically, you just need to rinse it. hmmm....i would remove the fish when doing this as you'll have to pour the sand in somehow and that probably wouldnt be the best for them

choochiegirl

I may have to rethink it then, the last time I took the fish out of the tank was when my old tank started leaking, of course it was late on a Sunday and all I had was a huge rubbermaid container to put them in till I could get a new tank the next day, they were traumatized for weeks from it, and my otos have never really been the same since it happened, they were shy before, now I rarely see them and it's been a year

griffin

would it be possible to put the gravel on one side, put up the partition, and then put in wet sand by the cupful by pouring it out where you want the sand to be? that way you could leave the fish in the tank the entire time. it would probably be a good idea to turn off the filters while you're working until the water settles a bit tho