Sand & gravel for ‘magical island’ theme

Hey, everyone! We are currently in the process of upgrading from a 10g to a 20g long for my 5yo. Because she’s 5, we have a subdued pink & purple castle (not neon bright) and mainly purple gravel (with some green scattered in) and a light assortment of plants. A ceramic clamshell filled with treasure and some driftwood are waiting for the big move.

I kind of want to do a beach or island look by adding a section of sand. The purple gravel would basically become purple water. Not quite a natural look, but again, she’s 5. I’m just debating whether to make it a central sandy island with the castle, or stretch the sand along the back (castle still centered), or do a half/half situation, where one side is sand and the other gravel (easiest for dividing the substrate and I can keep the HOB filter further away from possible sand kick up). I do have a pre-filter sponge on the Aquaclear. I’d put the air stone and sponge filter on the sand side.

Originally I was going to take add pale gravel for the beach, but my pH is a very steady 8.2, which is fine for my platies, but I wonder if more gravel, especially a different kind, would just kick it up higher. I got supposedly pH neutral sand.

Thoughts?

 

Shame on you for using a 5 year old as an excuse to execute your own fantasy Just kidding. I have a surrealist tank design idea waiting to be implemented. I am looking forward to the pictures of your design. An isolated island sounded best to me, but of course whatever you decide to do.

 

Silica sand would be good for the beach. You could put some rocks or pebbles under the filter intake maybe...

 

You could use pool filter sand as your beach material. But it will eventually mix with the gravel/pebbles and become a pain. If you are up to some DIY, you could glue a plastic boundary on the bottom of the tank around your island to separate sand from gravel.

 

I'm thinking of taking tomorrow off to play with it (cleaning sand tonight since we haven't winterized the outdoor water system yet) and take pics. It's almost too bad I don't have bettas - I could do a sky background and they could be dragons, which 5yo would love. Dragons, dinosaurs, and Pokemon, with 'warrior fairies' to look after them, is her current jam.

Maybe I can convince her dad to let the 10g become a betta dragon tank ... I'm sure we could just use a plastic tote for a quarantine tank instead of the 10.

 

Purple is my favorite color, so good pick! Could maybe get a shallow terracotta piece like one of the drain trays for a pot, bury it up the the rim in the gravel so you can't see it, and fill that with the sand to help keep it separated for when you gravel vac. Not sure how well it works, but that's how I'd prolly try to accomplish it if I were trying it.

 

Um, mimo91088 that's a really stinking good idea. I was going to use some bigger river rock was a border between the two substrates (I've already done the vinegar test plus had them sitting in a bucket for a week while testing the pH), but I'd been pondering a container or sucking it up and gluing a plastic divider (the idea of super glue in the tank just icks me out, regardless of it being tried and true).

On a progress note, I have completed 7 rounds of bucket rinsing the sand and the water pours nice and clear now. 5yo is excited about the castle island and keeps telling the Finn, Rey, and the Jawas (the minnows) that they're about to move to the ocean.

Yes, a Star Wars themed tank would be awesome, but this ain't my ship. I'm not the captain, I'm just at the helm trying to avoid icebergs.

 

Lowes was out of terracotta drain trains, just had plastic, so that's what I went with. I punched some holes in the sides, though I suppose there really won't be any flow in there once the sand is packed down. Last night I did 7-8 rounds of washing the sand and then made myself a sand pie. I didn't have enough river rock to fully line the rim of the tray, so I wound up opening a bag of natural colored gravel to create a sort of 'buffer zone' between the sand and purple rock, since I expect it to get messy there over time. I may add more river rock down the road, it's pretty much buried now.

Added the castle and gravel (rinsed out in Primed water) from the 10g and slowly started filling. This took way more time than I thought it would. I was rather disturbed how gross the tank water became as everything was kicked up, and it turns out I had algae that had been disguised by the background scenery, plants, and equipment. I did upgrade the Aquaclear from 20 to 50 and just moved the media over (there's room for old and new in the canister); I probably could've gotten away with the 20 for awhile, since I also have a sponge filter going, but I know we'll add more fish down the road. This also allows me to swap sponges or media out for quarantine or emergency situations.

The water is already clearer from when I took the photos. The minnows are schooling as they patrol the new digs, the platies are zooming, and I cranked the airstone to full blast and Rey (orange platy) is constantly playing elevator with the bubbles. The snails have already done a full circuit, I've never seen them out of the castle this much or cover so much ground.

Had a mishap while draining the 10g. Had the gravel vac going while I was picking stuff up and forgot about it.

Yeah. I soaked the carpet.

It's been toweled, vacuumed, and carpet cleaner sprayed. I also have the window open to air things out. Oops. Don't tell my husband.

 

Lowes was out of terracotta drain trains, just had plastic, so that's what I went with. I punched some holes in the sides, though I suppose there really won't be any flow in there once the sand is packed down. Last night I did 7-8 rounds of washing the sand and then made myself a sand pie. I didn't have enough river rock to fully line the rim of the tray, so I wound up opening a bag of natural colored gravel to create a sort of 'buffer zone' between the sand and purple rock, since I expect it to get messy there over time. I may add more river rock down the road, it's pretty much buried now.

Added the castle and gravel (rinsed out in Primed water) from the 10g and slowly started filling. This took way more time than I thought it would. I was rather disturbed how gross the tank water became as everything was kicked up, and it turns out I had algae that had been disguised by the background scenery, plants, and equipment. I did upgrade the Aquaclear from 20 to 50 and just moved the media over (there's room for old and new in the canister); I probably could've gotten away with the 20 for awhile, since I also have a sponge filter going, but I know we'll add more fish down the road. This also allows me to swap sponges or media out for quarantine or emergency situations.

The water is already clearer from when I took the photos. The minnows are schooling as they patrol the new digs, the platies are zooming, and I cranked the airstone to full blast and Rey (orange platy) is constantly playing elevator with the bubbles. The snails have already done a full circuit, I've never seen them out of the castle this much or cover so much ground.

Had a mishap while draining the 10g. Had the gravel vac going while I was picking stuff up and forgot about it.

Yeah. I soaked the carpet.

It's been toweled, vacuumed, and carpet cleaner sprayed. I also have the window open to air things out. Oops. Don't tell my husband.

Wow! I love it! I wish I was the five year old who got to enjoy that tank! Beautiful!

 

Thanks FishGirl115 She's going to be asking for more fish tonight, but I think I need to drag this high out as long as I can before the new fish dopamine hit.

 

I'm a 32 year old man and I kinda want to copy that tank lol. I actually really like it!