ok my turn.... sand- in!... lol

[~Erik3.8.07~]

i just finished replacing the gravel with sand and redecorating! like cocoa it took me about an hour, i used really fine white sand called moonlight sand. I'll pus a before and after pic in a little bit, its still settling now:c12:

[Kuli_Loach]

It should be settled in about 3 hrs I think. I want pics man!!!!:19:

[~Erik3.8.07~]

i cant wait till it does, i havnt even been able to get a good look at it yet:ezpi_wink1:

[Kuli_Loach]

Lol, turn your filter off also to help with the settling. And stop moving your decor around as well, I know you are like me and are moving your stuff around since you are getting into your tank anyways.:ezpi_wink1:

[~Erik3.8.07~]

OOOOOOOOH, i guess that would help, i had my filter running .... oops:rolleyes:

[Kuli_Loach]

Lol, just unplug it and raise it a ways off the bottom if you can, atleast 4".

[cocoa_pleco]

awesome! another sand conformer! lol

[Kuli_Loach]

Yay, sand alliance we are slowly changing them all.:19:

[~Erik3.8.07~]

we should start our own group, how bout the secret sand alliance of a.c. or s.s.a.a.c.
whos next to join?:28:

[Kaga's Kritters]

how do you clean sand? i mean like with gravel you would use a siphon, but what do you do with the sand?

[Kuli_Loach]

I use my siphon just about an inch above it and it sucks it up. You can also stick it in and pull it out and it will rotate the sand cleaning deep into the sand bed. I will join it erik!!! S.S.A.A.C. is what we will be, I am putting it under my name now!!!

[~Erik3.8.07~]

lol sweet and it sounds like kaga might become our newest member!

*edit- aww dang, i dont have enough points to change my user title

[Kuli_Loach]

Dang right!!! You got enough points to change it or do I need to send you some?

[~Erik3.8.07~]

i only got 533 points, its change user title right?

[Kaga's Kritters]

what are the benefits of using sand over gravel? i have considered doing sand before....just never did.

[Kuli_Loach]

I think, h/o, I am sending you 2,000 points.

[Kuli_Loach]

Sand looks better in most cases and it is easier to clean. I would recommend it to anyone.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

sweet thx kuli, and when u use sand it makes cleaning a little easier cause it doesnt get underneath as easily so it u know right where to vacum, u could prolly tell if ur overfeeding to cause u can see how much doesnt get eating more easily, at least i would think so

[Kuli_Loach]

That is true as well and as he said, it doesn't get trapped and un-eaten food can be removed easily.

[Kaga's Kritters]

hmmmm.....sounds pretty good so far.....any downsides to using sand?

[Kuli_Loach]

If you don't comb it then it can create pockets of toxic stuff under it. Just comb it or rotate it like I suggested weekly and you don't have to worry about it. That is the only thing I can think of and gravel can do that with a bunch of gunk under the gravel leaking out.

EDIT: Be a member of the SSAAC, change to sand.

[cocoa_pleco]

none, besides the nitrogen pockets and they cant be used with UGF's.

Im in for SSAAC too!

[Kuli_Loach]

Yay!!! Before you know it have the forum will be!!!

[~Erik3.8.07~]

its expensive! at least mine was, 20$ for 20lb, but im sure theres cheaper this was just the only sand available to me other than play sand, i tryed that in my 10g and its dark and not as clean but was 3$ for a 50lb bag

yay we got another!

[cocoa_pleco]

mine was 27$ for a 27lb bag.

[Kuli_Loach]

Silica sand is clean and cheap and is beautiful in my opinion, that is in all of my tanks and I love the stuff. It is just pool filter sand.

[Kaga's Kritters]

i remember before a lot of people telling me to use playsand cause its cheaper, and the playsand around here is real light in color

so if i use my siphon and dig it into the sand when i clean then i wont have to worry about the toxic pockets?

edit: is pool filter sand very expensive? how much better is it then play sand?

[~Erik3.8.07~]

nope as long as it gets overturned to release the toxins u should be ok, and my play sand had a lot of debrie in it (small bits of leaves, wood chip, etc) nothin major but u just may need to do a lot of rinsing and cleaning before adding it if u want it really nice

[Kaga's Kritters]

wow, i used playsand for one of my lizard tanks before and never got any that had crap like that in it......it was always plain clean sand.

[Kuli_Loach]

I can get a 50lb bag of silica sand for 5$. My dad is the director of the parks and recs. and I get 100lb bags for 8$ as well.

[Kaga's Kritters]

how much would it cost us folks without good contacts, lol.

[Kuli_Loach]

Probably around 8$ range for a 50lb bag.

[Kaga's Kritters]

thats not too bad, way better than buying sand at the pet store. im still debating doing this.....can't make up my mind.

[Kuli_Loach]

Come on, you know you wanna be in SSAAC.:c8:

[~Erik3.8.07~]

ya go for it, its worth it i think it looks 30x better then gravel

[AquaQueen]

Congrats on the change over. I loveeeee the white sand. I would think that would make the fish waste and left over food stand out more tho...Does it?

[Kaga's Kritters]

where can i find some pics of tanks that have sand in them? i wanna see some examples of what it looks like.

[Kuli_Loach]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

The large black rocks are what I put in there but that is silica sand.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

Congrats on the change over. I loveeeee the white sand. I would think that would make the fish waste and left over food stand out more tho...Does it?
it might a little but nothings perfect and i would show u some pics if it would settle already!!!!!:c11: its only been a hour and a half and im already tired of waiting lol

[*Sarah*]

I put Silica sand in my 100g. It took 100lbs of sand, and that cost me $20.
I'll post a pic when I'm on the other computer since I don't have any on this one...but it's fabulous. It looks 1000000 times better than gravel and the loaches love it way more :)

[~Erik3.8.07~]

very nice kuli, i love the rocks in there, looks much more natural!

[AquaQueen]

lol I can wait until it does. I am really wondering if I want to make the change...i always thought it was expensive for sand. After reading what you all have said I like the sound of it more...Is it true that real plants like sand better too? Like do they grow any better? Or is there no difference?

[~Erik3.8.07~]

i think it all depends on the plant, if i remember correctly, i read that some plants may not take root in sand

[~Erik3.8.07~]

ok im impatient, can i do a water change and remove the floating particles? or is it better to wait and let it settle on its own?

[tropfish]

ok i gotta join it too!

[cocoa_pleco]

mines a black sand with a few white grains, and a black background on the tank. the loaches LOVE the softness, and so does the severum for some reason. lol. the black allover REALLY makes the plants look green, im halfway to one of those sweet tanks i always post links to.

most plants like sand, the nutrients are easier to reach. my java fern is already getting roots in the sand.

erik, i would say wait a while and let it settle on its own, if by a couple of days its not better, waterchange

[tropfish]

I have silica sand, snow white and beautiful. I rinsed it in buckets until it ran clean, and i had almost no particles and the cloudiness cleared up in a couple hours.

[Kuli_Loach]

Yay now we have 4 members, yay!!! Hey aqua since you have silica sand why don't you join the SSAAC? Silica sand is the way to go in my opinion, cheap, looks good, and plants do well, well all of my plants do well in it.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

ok so i did a water change cause i had to do something to make it look better before my mom got home, and to speed things up i siphoned the water out with the gravel vac, while at the same time pouring new water with a tank filler thing that hooks up to the sink faucet and now it looks 3000 times better and it cleared up! YES!!!! i'll put pics up in a few minutes

[Kuli_Loach]

Hurry!! I am anxious man!!!

[~Erik3.8.07~]

ok finally got some pics!

here is before
2443

and here is after
2444 2445 2446

i may change some things a little and its still a little cloudy but thats it in all its glory lol:c12:

[Kuli_Loach]

Looking good. I would have kept that wood looking thing though, that is cool. Still a little cloudy but it will clear, congrats man!!!

[~Erik3.8.07~]

thx kuli and that wood thing is actually goin into my 10, it looks better in there cause it sticks out the top, i was thinking about getting a nice piece of driftwood to put in tho

but nothings written in stone yet im still playin around to see how things look

[Kaga's Kritters]

honestly i like the before pic the best. i like the added color that gravel gives.

[Kuli_Loach]

Yea, I would recommend the sinking stuff though so you don't have to water log it yourself, it takes like 2 weeks to do that or you can get the kind that is screwed onto a piece of slate, that is what I have to soften the water a little.

See I like the sand better, it is your own personal preference.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

ya some people like the color of gravel, others like the natural look of sand, its all personal point of view, i love the sand, i think it looks way better, and when the tank is finally the way i want it it'll be even sweeter and thx for the tip kuli i'll look into it

[Kuli_Loach]

No problem bud, just promise me when you get it totally done I wanna see a pic.:19:

[~Erik3.8.07~]

trust me u will cuase im gonna be jumpin with joy when i finally get it how i like it:c5:

[Kuli_Loach]

Lol, you will probably be like me and change it forever. I think I have mine how I want it finally though. Are you going to use live plants or fake?

[~Erik3.8.07~]

well i dont know too much about plants yet and have never tried keeping em, and since my fish died in my 10 i think i might upgrade it to a 20 and start tryin out with plants in there first

[cocoa_pleco]

MAN, i love the new pic! the old one had the un-natural ugly stuff. man i love sand:ezpi_wink1:

[~Erik3.8.07~]

lol thx cocoa

[Kuli_Loach]

Live plants are great!! I say go for it, I was the same way and just bought some not know what to do and they grew so I got more and got to researching them but I still don't do anything to them but put a little fertilizer in there with them.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

hmmm maybe, its not just me who makes this decision tho. Its in my parents living room so its partly up to them too, the little tank is in my room so i can do w/e i want to it

[Kuli_Loach]

I done mine how I wanted, a planted tank is more beautiful in my opinion. Show them some planted tanks and let them decided if they like it or not.

[SkarloeysMom]

I like the new sand. A new piece or two of driftwood would be great if you have plans for the old one. Looking good!

[tropfish]

lookin good! thumbs2:

[squirt_12]

ok well i have to ask this but.....what is SSAAC???? and what is it for?

[~Erik3.8.07~]

its secret sand alliance of a.c. but dont tell no one cause its secret lol

join us if u have sand in ur tank or will have sand soon

[squirt_12]

ok....:sconfused: well i want sand in my tank but i doubt that i will ever get it while i still live at home.
lol

[Kuli_Loach]

Lol, get a 10g and put sand in it so you can join.:19:

[squirt_12]

Yeah the thing is i'm not allowed to get another tank or else i def. would.
Well i will talk to my parents and see (when i get the money too) if i can change my 33g from gravel to sand. I would LOVE sand but i have never saw it in my LFS so i don't know where i would get it from.
lol

[Kuli_Loach]

Most hardware stores have pool filter sand or if you have a pool supplies place then they would have it. It won't be that much either.

[squirt_12]

O didn' think that you could use that. I figured that you would have to use special sand so that it wouldn't hurt the fish. lol
But how would i prepare it to put in the tank? And would i leave my fish in there when i put the sand it?
Maybe a little info will influence my parents to let me get sand.
lol

[cocoa_pleco]

yep, hardware stores have cheap playsand. i called my hardware stores here but none answered the phone after i got transferred so i just got pissed and went to PJ's and got real aquarium sand. lol


i just scooped out my gravel with the fish in there, then washed the sand and put it in. i left my filters on, and fish in still, and all went well. it looks awesome!

[Kuli_Loach]

It is silica sand but they sale it as pool filter sand as well. Just wash it in a bucket and get all the particles out (I didn't) but I never put sand in with water, I always did it before the water went in. You will have to talk to the others.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

i filled a 5 gallon bucket halfway with sand then overflowed it with water so any loose stuff flowed out. but u gotta make sure u have warm water cause sand will obsorb the cold water and lower the temp in the tank. and u can add the sand with fish still in the tank just make sure u go slow and i turned my filter off during this to make sure no sand got up the filter and jammed the fan in it

[AquaQueen]

Lol, get a 10g and put sand in it so you can join.:19:

Ohhh...Ideas...I have two empty 10g's....I'm thinking This is a good Idea...But what kind of fish would I put in there?

[Kuli_Loach]

5 glowlights and 3 cory cats. Make it a planted tank as well so you can see if you have the aquatic green thumb.

[AquaQueen]

What are glowlights? Is that the head and tail light tetras? or something completely different?

[cocoa_pleco]

glowlights are orange and really pretty, ive had 3 since january and theyre still healthy

[AquaQueen]

OK I just googled them and they are kinda like neon's just different coloring. They are kinda cute.

[Ark6ie]

i have a couple of them and they are heaps cute specially when they school with the neons:malelovies:

[AquaQueen]

they are the same size as neon's full grown right?

[cocoa_pleco]

yep, same size, different color variation. and mine school with the bloodfins even

[AquaQueen]

Oh so I could even buy some of those and throw my neons in with them?
Also what about Otto cats? They only grow to two inches right?

[cocoa_pleco]

ottos are 2 inches, correct. and glowlights and neons school, at least mine did. fish are colorblind and neons and glowlights look the same so they all should

[AquaQueen]

OK cool so if I wanted to I could go with 2 Ottos, and how many neon's & glowlights in a 10g?

[cocoa_pleco]

2 ottos, and 8 glowlights and 8 neons or whatever. basically its max around 15 tetras in a 10g, and the ottos clean so they dont count

[AquaQueen]

OK cool...that's what I wanted to know...Imma take the 5 neon's I have add three more then buy the glowlights & otto's after I check out the sand prices around here, and setup a planted 10g...lol Hubby's gonna kill you for helping me plan this...jk I am blaming you for getting me going tho...hahaha

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, a knock at my door, your husband with a crowbar. "you the one with the tank ideas?".

you going with sand??

[AquaQueen]

lmao yep sounds like my man...hahahaha.....I want to go with sand and real plants...But I want to check the prices...Does it come in colors? or is it only natural colors?

[cocoa_pleco]

play sand is usually that gold like you see at playgrounds or white. kuli loach has white and its awesome for dark fish. my fish are bright (mostly) so i used black geosystem gravel from a LFS and a black background. play sand is cheap (3 bucks for 25lbs here, paid 27$ for 27lbs of the geosystem aquarium sand)

[AquaQueen]

so it should be around a buck a pound then? I dont want people to think I am copying them with the same color sand yanno...that's why I was thinking maybe a color...I love the lighter colored sand tho and would love to go with that. I dunno decisions, decisions!

[cocoa_pleco]

LFS bought is around 1$/LB, hardware store playsand is about 10 cents/lb.

[AquaQueen]

ok..I'd want to go with the lighter colored sand. So I will go check it out tomorrow.

[Kuli_Loach]

Playground and silica sand is the cheapest, I use silica sand. LFS carry colored sand but it is more expensive and I like my silica sand A LOT!!!:19: :19: :19:

[~Erik3.8.07~]

i think the silica sand is the best, i would have used it instead but i couldnt find any and i didnt relize it was just pool filter sand, but i still think what i got turned out pretty damn good, just more expensive

[Rocky06fx4]

If you want A planted aquarium it's alot simpler than it seems.
For a substrate you want a 50/50 mix of sand and gravel so this gives the roots A way to grip into the substrate. Then depending on your wattage you can get low light plants or bright plants. Also if you get CO2 injection your plants will grow bigger and greener, if you want theres fertilizer for plants but try to use any chemicals rarely.

I recently did a Substrate change heres what I got.
Flourite as seen here
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
I also bought the Hagen Plant Grow Natural System with CO2 in the lower part of the page.
then any type of gravel or crushed coral.

Heres my Before and after pics.
Before:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

and After:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

If you look close enough on the right side you can see the CO2 in action and EVEN see a bubble of CO2 thats in the middle going up the track.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

looks nice i like the lighter colored pebbles

[S13DWS]

Lol hey can I join your S.S.A.A.C?

I changed from Gravel to nothing then into white marble sand...
Im so glad i did too!!!:) So much easier to clean!!!

[~Erik3.8.07~]

sure just change ur user name title

YAY! WE GOT ANOTHER!!!

[S13DWS]

I dont know how to change it :P

Ill go figure it out :P :P

[cocoa_pleco]

go to shop main, then hit user title options