About to Join...

[Drumachine09]

the S.S.S.A.C. or whatever you call it. Taking nasty flourite/clown puke mix out of 55, and the 10g FINALLY. Off to Walmart!

[angelcakes]

the S.S.S.A.C. or whatever you call it. Taking nasty flourite/clown puke mix out of 55, and the 10g FINALLY. Off to Walmart!
what is s.s.s.a.c?

[shockshockshad]

secret sand *something* of aquatic community.

[Lady Hobbs]

Oh no. clown puke is finally going! You have just gone thru a thru test of patience. Mine didn't last 2 months. LOL

[siymdapolio]

lol its The Sotos Syndrome Support Association of Canada .....




j/k

[angelcakes]

lol its The Sotos Syndrome Support Association of Canada .....




j/k
ok................? thick moment LOL

[Ellen4God]

What are ya'll talking about? lol

[Incredulous_Ed]

Sand is the way of the future!

[aquarius56]

the S.S.S.A.C. or whatever you call it. Taking nasty flourite/clown puke mix out of 55, and the 10g FINALLY. Off to Walmart!

Drumachine...do you think we could have that "nasty flourite/clown puke mix...s.s.s.a.c." translated in layman's terms, please, :)

[Kuli_Loach]

You can join SSAAC if you want. It stand for Secret Sand Alliance of Aquatic Community.

[smoochxoxo]

? is there a secret sand shake??? I mean hand shake??? lol Im j/k but that is they only thing that popped in my head when i read the post above.
Hugs

Oh and what is a clown puke mix? we reffering to gravel i assume or do you have a clown fish that pukes??? lol

[cocoa_pleco]

clown puke is a crazy name for colored gravel, like blue, green, etc. hence the clown name

[Nick89]

id go with sand but i dont think i can have it in an oscar tank. And i dont think it would work with a gravel vaccum easily.

[tropfish]

YES another S.S.A.A.C. member. I'm glad the clown puke is gone, so unnatural.

[Drumachine09]

Well, it was like, 60lbs of flourite, with like, 10 lbs of clown puke. Not too bad, but the occasional green/blue spec that i see in the bottom gets my goat.


I bought 100 lbs of sand for like, $3.17. Good stuff. I went to lowes for sand, and my mom wanted to go because some $&!*$#'s broke the glass on our front storm door, and she wanted to look for a new one. So, I'm standing there with a hundred pound bag of sand while my mom browses storm doors......for 20 minutes. THEN she decides, it can wait until next week when the "other colors" come in. Women.....




Anyway, sand will replace the natural gravel in the 10 gallon tonight, and the fluorite/clown puke in the 55 on the morrow.


I guess I'll have to start advertising the club in my sig soon, eh?

[Algenco]

:19: Another convert to the sandy side

[Drumachine09]

The guy at the counter made a joke. He said "Ain't you a bit too old to be playin in the sand box?"

I said, "Its for an aquarium".


Then he said "You gotta be careful with that stuff. You can't just be throwing all sorts of sand in there all willy nilly. Some sand isn't good for fish. You sure this stuff is safe? "


At that point, I thought about saying, "Oh, well, I am going to add the special aquarium pixie dust to make these ROCKS safe for water. Thanks for reminding me", but I just nodded my head and gave an "mhm"'. Some times my smart alec side almost gets the best of me.

[SkarloeysMom]

I'm a card carrying member of the SSAAC. Well, I do have half gravel in the 20g but its part of the design. I really like sand. I used to have the bright blue gravel now its all natural looking or sand...much easier on the eyes!

Clown puke!! LOL! That nickname always gives me a laugh!

[SkarloeysMom]

? is there a secret sand shake??? I mean hand shake??? lol

HAHAHAHA! sand shake! That's rich!!!:hmm3grin2orange:

[Levi]

..........

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, i saw that pic earlier today

[Ellen4God]

Wow, I definitely would not have guessed that's what it stood for! I was actually thinking about switching to sand earlier today. I love the look of it - I just don't have the time right now. Maybe this summer.

[Nick89]

how would you go about switching it?? Wont it cause a cycle? How do you gravel vaccum it? And can you have sand in an oscar tank? Just curious..

[cocoa_pleco]

yes, you can have sand in a oscar tank

if the filter is established, you wont get a mini cycle, when my 55g was planted i switched from sand to gravel without any effects

you vacuum sand like gravel, just hold the siphon 1" above the sand

[Nick89]

really? i put the gravel vac in the gravel... lol... so i just go right above it eh? Well whats the best sand to use thats safe? like brands and stuff?? sorry drum for taking over the thread.. but i really think sand might be cool.

[cocoa_pleco]

i use geosystem sand, hagen makes it, its $20 for a large bag but its awesome sand, i like the black stuff. it only clouds the water a tiny bit when you add it

[Nick89]

how much would i need? 50 lbs? Also where can i buy it because im pretty sure no lfs' sell it here. Sounds interesting though. Do i empty the entire tank? do i move my oscar? sorry for the questions.. i just think sand looks good.

[SkarloeysMom]

how would you go about switching it?? Wont it cause a cycle? How do you gravel vaccum it? And can you have sand in an oscar tank? Just curious..

Switching can be a pretty messy job but I found that if you give the gravel a REALLY good vacuuming and take your water down to about half full or so you can just get a slotted spoon or better yet, buy a cat litter scooper and dig out that gravel pretty quick.

Get yourself some pool filter sand, I got mine at Lowe's in the summertime for like 5 bucks for 50 lbs. Rinse it until the water runs clear. In the last rinse you might want to add water about the same temp as your tank add declor., swirl it around a bit and just let it sit for a while to warm the sand. If you rinse sand with cold water it will hold the cold and when you add it the tank temp will drop dramatically. If your fish are in there could be a big shock. Then just drain off the water the sand is soaking in and scoop the sand in gently as possible. Make sure your filter is off so the sand doesn't get sucked through your motor. It should be a bit foggy for until the next day but that's pretty much how you do it.

[cocoa_pleco]

the way i did it is i left all of my fish in the tank, scooped up all of the gravel with a large net, and put the sand in. i had over 50 fish in the tank so draining it would be time consuming, with a single oscar you can drain it if you want

[SkarloeysMom]

I left my fish in there too. They were pretty freaked out but everyone survived it just fine.

[MandyL]

I used about 40 pounds in my 36x12 tank. So 50 might do you or you might need a bit more.

[smoochxoxo]

Love the look of sand but until I get another tank I can't justify the purchase for a 5 G. lol BUT I don't have colored gravel. it is tan, beige stone gravel so it looks pretty natural. No pinks and purples.
Can't wait to see the pics of your tank! GL
Hugs

[Algenco]

how much would i need? 50 lbs? Also where can i buy it because im pretty sure no lfs' sell it here. Sounds interesting though. Do i empty the entire tank? do i move my oscar? sorry for the questions.. i just think sand looks good.

My preference is Grade 20 pool sand, larger grain which with an Oscar would definitely better than play sand

[Tooch]

I have sand in one of my tanks. Do I get to join the SSSAC?!

[Algenco]

I have sand in one of my tanks. Do I get to join the SSSAC?!

You have met all the membership requirements thumbs2:

[Ellen4God]

How much sand is suggested for each gallon? I have a 10g tank, and I've love to switch to sand in it. I'd probably put some in my 5.5g betta tank as well.

I've been looking at the Eco-Complete - mainly for my plants.

[Algenco]

1-1.5# per gal. Nearly all of my plants are growing in sand

[Drumachine09]

You have met all the membership requirements thumbs2:



He hasn't paid his membership fee. I accept cash, check, verified paypal, money order, most major credit cards, or your first born :hmm3grin2orange: .






Well, I swapped out the 10 gallon last night. It was REALLY cloudy even after rinsing, so I did an 80% water change, and it cleared up a bit. I think its getting a small bacteria bloom, but thats nothing another 50% waterchange won't fix today.



Trying to get my nerves up to tackle the 55. That is a LOT of gravel to take out.


For just two fish (severum and firemouth), is it worth it to take them out and put them in a bucket, or do you think theyd be fine in the tank for a while?

[Algenco]

I don't think you get a bloom, if you do it would be minor.

I don't see the cloudiness causing a problem for the fish. Lakes and streams get down right muddy at times with no harm

[Rue]

Be brave Grasshopper...be brave...

Tackle the 55g with confidence and you will be greatly rewarded...

[Drumachine09]

Maybe I'm just not used to the look of sand in a tank, but the water has a kind of opaque look to it. I dunno how else to describe it. I'll change another 5 gallons today regardless. Maybe it will help.

[Algenco]

It will clear up, disturbing the sand will cause clouding for the first month or so, once the bio-film forms on the sand it stops

[Drumachine09]

It will clear up, disturbing the sand will cause clouding for the first month or so, once the bio-film forms on the sand it stops



Ahh, thats probably it. Thanks.

[SkarloeysMom]

Drum, every time I've changed a tank to sand its taken pretty much a full 24 hours for it to settle down and look nice and clear. May even take a tad long if you're doing a bigger tank. I've only done a 2.5, 5 and 20g.

[Kuli_Loach]

If your totally changing out then I would put the fish in buckets and float your filter cartridges and decor in another bucket along with the filter and dump the tank and put sand and use the dinner plate method and if possible, use a pitcher. Yes it takes forever but your water won't be so cloudy, I never have a real cloudy tank that way. Also it gives you a time to give the tank a good scrubbing.

[Drumachine09]

I think I'm going to have to pick up another bucket from wally world, haha. I have three. One for fish, one for cleaning sand, one for old gravel, and I'll need another for decor, unless I just end up laying it out on a towel, like i did with the 10g.

[Kuli_Loach]

I recommend you do it my way bud if you want them fish back in it the same day and wanna see them.:hmm3grin2orange:

[country_boy454]

I guess you can count me in on the S.S.A.A.C. My 42 gallon has sand blasting sand in it. I bought a 100lb. bag of it for $7 at local fleet store. I absolutely love it and I know my rams enjoy digging in it. My sand didn't cause the tank to cloud up much. Even if I stir it up it settles back down in a matter of minutes.

[Tolley]

can i join s.s.a.a.c? i have only ever had sand in my tanks.

[Drumachine09]

All of my plants and rock ar out. You'd think having nothing in a tank would make it look big, but my tank looks tiny now. Its almost depressing its so small!


Taking a break before I shovel out the 75lbs of fluorite/clown puke.

[Drumachine09]

Alright. Every trace of clown puke has been throw in the trash can, and the trash went out today. I feel free. Sand went in last night, and decor back in this morning. It looks SOOO much better than it did before. Its still a bit cloudy, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow or the next day to get a pic, but it looks MUCH better than before.

[Ellen4God]

Congrats on throwing out the clown puke!!! I'm very excited about seeing pictures!!!!!

[Wild Turkey]

The guy at the counter made a joke. He said "Ain't you a bit too old to be playin in the sand box?"

I said, "Its for an aquarium".


Then he said "You gotta be careful with that stuff. You can't just be throwing all sorts of sand in there all willy nilly. Some sand isn't good for fish. You sure this stuff is safe? "


At that point, I thought about saying, "Oh, well, I am going to add the special aquarium pixie dust to make these ROCKS safe for water. Thanks for reminding me", but I just nodded my head and gave an "mhm"'. Some times my smart alec side almost gets the best of me.

You should have been like "no im not sure, can you help me find out." i love it when employees are smartalicks cuz its so easy to make their job 10x harder. lol

Edit: also, who says "willy nilly" anymore unless theyre really really being a smart@s$?