Want To Change From Gravel To Sand

With my next water change, I want to change out the gravel I have in my betta tanks with sand and a different color than black because I cannot see what is in the gravel too well with black gravel.

Do you have any recommendations on the best sand to buy? How do I prepare it? These are small split 5 and change gallon tanks so probably only need 5 pounds for each tank. Will I have cloudy yucky water for a week after putting it in? Is it easier to clean sand substrate than gravel? I dunno would probably really like grass at the bottom but I am too new to the trade to figure that out and it boggles my mind how all these planted tanks I see on here are cleaned without messing up the substrate each water change.

 

Alrighty well, I have only ever had sand aquariums, and the first thing I'd like to point out is that if the only reason you don't want black sand is because you found it difficult to see what you need to clean up in the dark gravel you had don't have to worry about that in sand aquariums. I recently purchased black sand for my aquarium, and I have no problems seeing what I need to clean up during water changes because in sand aquariums the fish excrements and food remains sit on top of the sand because they are not small enough to get in between sand granules. So please don't be deterred from black/dark substrate purely based on that =) As for preparing sand, all you need to do is rinse the sand with tap water until the water is no longer cloudy before using it in your aquarium (you'll be surprised how long it takes to clean sand, I had to rinse mine for an hour before the whole thing was no longer cloudy). When doing water changes, you don't suck it up into your siphon to get the stuff that sinks through to the bottom like you would do with gravel, because as mentioned earlier everything you need to clean up is just sitting atop the sand, all you need to do is gently glide the siphon over the surface of the sand in order to clean everything up properly.

 

Thank you tum0r. I bought sand, we will see how it goes.

 

Thank you tum0r. I bought sand, we will see how it goes.

These videos might give you more of an inclination as to what I was saying, hope the sand goes well for you!

 

So, I bought sand, had to wait for shipping, I assume it came 03/18/2018, and it sat for a day or 2 until I had time to do it, so let's say on 03/20/2018. I rinsed and rinsed and this is for a 5-gallon tank so not tons of sand, and rinsed and rinsed. Took entire tank apart, betta in cup, left media in after rinsing it off in old tank water, put new sand in, filled etc. Looked gorgeous 2 or 3 days. I assume I started a bacterial bloom because tank went cloudy, and I used prime and quick start in new tank water (don't know why I used quick start, habit I guess.) So, been giving it a few days to clear and it was not. I went and checked and it appears the filter inflow slots, or the pump/powerhead slots (this is an Aqua One Betta Duo so comes with a small powerhead that you attach tubes to to outflow into the tank) were covered with sand so filter was not working properly. I cleaned that out, put pump/powerhead back in and now 12 hours later, I decided need to do a big water change. I changed 60% of the water, put Prime only, and am hoping it will clear up. Temp is 80, parameters are great. Betta looks happy, healthy, eats like a pig. Will sand continue to do this? If so, I might go back to gravel. It reminds me of river water.

This is the sand I used in case anybody was wondering.

Another question? I want to buy replacement pump/powerheads just in case, but the place I bought the tank from does not sell them. Seems it is an Australia made product, so wondering if any of you wizards could point me in the direction of a replacement that would work to replace this powerhead?

 

Did the water run fully clear when you were finished cleaning it? If not, you did not clean it fully before putting it in the tank, and therefore the sand particles produced when the sand granules were rubbing against one another during shipment are going to be floating round your aquarium, fogging up the water. If the water hasn't settled by now you may need to clean the sand again.

 

I really don't know what you mean. I poured the sand I was going to use into a bucket, and I stood at the sink with warm water and had it going directly into the bucket while I used my hand to run through the sand for many minutes, every so often emptying the water, and starting all over and used a drainer too so that there was no tap water left in it, and starting over. It is hard to tell if it was clear because it was in a bucket. 60% change yesterday still cloudy as heck. Gonna have to go back to gravel. This sand too on the bag says no need to prewash already washed, but I did anyway. Gonna have to pull the tank down, take everything out again, all the water, the fish, try and get all the sand out and put gravel back in. I just have to find time to do it. I feel horrible the fish is in that gross cloudy water. And I think I have to buy more gravel because I am pretty sure I threw out the old gravel. Grumble grumble grumble.