Hi guys,
Do any of you use sand in your fish tanks? If so what type of sand do you use?
Thank you
Sent from my Nexus 4
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Hi guys,
Do any of you use sand in your fish tanks? If so what type of sand do you use?
Thank you
Sent from my Nexus 4
What are you keeping cold water, tropical or marine fish?
I use sand in my marine tank, it's crushed coral the help with the PH.
I keep tropical and use coral sand as it helps with the ph loads - never had problems with my tank in 9 years
In my freshwater tanks I use sand from the early learning centre (Children's play sand)
This is cheap and OK to put straight in and use with no washing required.
In my reef tank I use coral sand mixed with about 10% live sand (This seeds quickly and adds a ph buffer)
the tropical tank i had i use children play sand...as above but it was washed first.....
I keep tropical fish :) what's the added bonus of using coral sand over normal?
Where would be the best place to buy it?
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Help keep ph up and you can get it from ebayQuote:
Originally Posted by hilljd00
Searched around online today and apparently Argos play sand is good. I'll take a trip to the fish shop tomorrow and see what they have, prices etc.
I've never once checked the pH in my tank lol
Maybe put a mix in?
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Unless you have soft water where you are I wouldn't bother with the coral sand for keeping tropical fish unless it's a specialised species that requires the use of it, I'd just stick to the play sand.
Coral sand is rough and it will restrict certain types of bottom dwellers that you can have in the tank, play sand is lovely and soft and won't do any damage to bottom dwellers.
I wouldn't worry about the PH of the tank and water buffers as regular weekly water changes will keep things in check.
Regular water changes are the key to successful fish keeping, think of it as not keeping fish but keeping healthy water conditions.
You'll do fine with normal UK tap water that been dechlorinated and a weekly or twice weekly water change at around 25% of tank volume for freshwater tropical fish.
I use coral sand due to rubbish water although my water changes are once a month since I started using it rather tah every two weeks. I also have normal sand
I bought Argos play sand today 15kg for £2.99 something. I'm going to put my fish in my brothers tank that's his let me borrow :) with my gravel and ships. That way I can clean diy tank probably and not disturb the fish too much...
I'm not going to clean my filter as I want the bacteria but I am going to clean the pipes and I will transfer the water back.
What's your advice regarding a sand setup then? Other than pre-wash? What fish should I buy that will clean and turn over the sand to avoid gas/air pockets.
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You won't find any long term successful solution regarding freshwater fish to do this well, I use a pop bottle with the bottom cut off attached to a length of tube to siphon the poop off the top of the sand while doing a water change and a long inert spoon from the home brew shop to gently stir the sand after to avoid dead spots. (filters temp off while you do this)Quote:
Originally Posted by hilljd00
I find a normal gravel siphon that you can buy is to strong for sand hence why I use a pop bottle to gently lift waste away without taking the sand away at each water change.
How's that work?
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To give you an idea of principleQuote:
Originally Posted by hilljd00
http://youtu.be/uAXVOtxdev8
With sand fish waste stays on top so just concentrate on gently removing that then a gentle stir when finished to agitate the sand bed.
You could even just use a length of tube on it's own to siphon the surface waste then agitate, it's really down to which way you prefer.
I hear that mixing your sand with a handful of ant powder does wonders for aquatic life !!! ;-)
(Please noone do that)
?Quote:
Originally Posted by macmilm
Jag
Ant powder always has huge "Danger to aquatic life" warnings all over it !!!Quote:
Originally Posted by jaguar982