atmmachine816

hey everyboyd having some hard time finding out how to clean sand in a tank anybody wana tell me how they do it or if they know how

Gunnie

You don't actually put your gravel vacuum in the sand, or you will just suck it all out of your tank. Simply hover it a few inches above the sand until you see the debris being sucked up. If you don't have any malysian trumpet snails in your tank, you also need to stir your sand every once in awhile so you don't get pockets of bad bacteria which can seep back into your water and make your fish very sick.

Isabella

Does sand come in different colors, or there is just one silver sand variety? I think a darker sand (some mixture between natural beige, browns, and black) would look really nice in a large planted tank with driftwood. To add variety and to soften the contrast between the bottom and the background of plants, it would be nice to scatter some similarly colored gravel of smaller and larger sized pebbles.

Gunnie

Isabell,
Click on the fish picture. There are many varieties of sand which are not just silve/beige. I have tahitian moon sand in my multie tank which is black. If you really want a nice planted tank with black substrate, check out the eco complete on that website.


http://www.carib-sea.com/pages/productline.html

Isabella

Thanks Gunnie. There are some really nice substrates on this website. How come they never have anything even half as nice in my pet store? And it is a pretty known store and it has many outlets throughout the U.S. It seems that if I want a really large and beautiful aquarium in the future, I will have to travel to stores far away from my house to get anything nice (because I'll have to pay a lot for tens of pounds of shipping gravel or sand). I am very disappointed with my pet store. It's Petland Discounts. Anybody has any experience with this store?

Isabella

Plus, they have really ugly stands (and no canopies) in my pet store. I looked online what it would cost to ship a really large and beautiful wooden stand and canopy - around 700$ !

Gunnie

When the Eco complete first came out, it was hard to find locally and very expensive. I had to have my LFS order it for me. That way I didn't have any shipping. Ask your lfs if they would add your requests to their next order, and how much would each item cost.

Isabella

All righty Not that I am setting up a new aquarium ... yet! BUT ... I am making the preparations (information-wise only for now) for a future tank I want to know everything well in advance, so that when I start the new "project", lol, I know exactly what to do, what to get, and where to get it Among other reasons, this is why I am getting so many aquarium books with my next books purchase

atmmachine816

do u think it would be hard to change a 30 gallon from gravel to sand and do u think i could put sand in a 2.5 gallon tank and grow plants in it im takng the fish out of my 2.5

Isabella

If you don't have any fish in a 30 gallon tank, then why would it be hard to change from gravel to sand? Just empty the tank and put the new sand in! If you don't want to remove the water from the tank, them just remove all the decor and carefully remove the gravel (although it will take you a while since you'll be working in water). Gravel isn't as hard to remove as sand would be.

I think it would be OK to put sand in a 2.5 g tank and grow plants in it. I think sand is usually a better medium for growing plants than is gravel (I may be wrong though). Well, it also depends on what kind of plants you want and how many. If you only want low light plants and a few of them, then regular gravel would suffice. There are also plants, on the other hand, that require not only special substrates but a couple of special substrates layered on top of one another to aid their growth and to provide necessary nutrition.

Butterfly

Since sand is an inert material unless you have fish in the tank to fertilize your plants you will have to add root tabs or liquid fertilizer in order for tehm to grow.
Carol

atmmachine816

ok well i put sand in my 2.5 gallon tank any tips on how to clean or grow plants in it and yes ther r fish in it but cant remember wat type they r i hav to ask my aunt b/c she knows and she was the one who convinced me to buy them

Butterfly

Your plants should be fine then.
Carol

atmmachine816

i dont hav any plants in it yet b/c petstores by me dont cary many plants that i need and i hav some xmass moss and star grass/creeping rusch ordered if ther available but do u know of any small plants that would grwo in that tank would xmass moss or crypts work