substrate

Subject: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:48 am

anyone keep sand in a tank? im waitin on a call about closing on my new home and first things first ----settin up my tanks. wife is gettin pissed cuz im trollin craigslist for deals on fish stuff. anyhow i heard somewhere sand is good for peacocks? any experience good or bad ? im worried about when i gotta siphon the bottom. feedback much appreciated.

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:51 am

oh and also where do i get sand if im gonna use it? petco and that only have marine sand.

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

I don't use sand, but you can get 50lb bags of it for super cheap in the concrete section at the hardware store. My lowes also has funny colored kids play sand in the outdoor garden area.

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:08 pm

I use pool filter sand. I just rinse it really well and put it in. I get it at Lowe's it's around $5 a bag. I love i!!! So much easier to clean than gravel.(IMO) It's heavier than the play sand so it doesn't get stirred up as bad during tank maintenance. I've also heard that it doesn't take as much cleaning as play sand before putting it in the tank. I've never used play sand so i'm just going on what i've heard.

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:13 pm

doesnt it get sucked up in the siphon??

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:16 pm

With the pool filter sand you get a small amount sucked up but not much. You could always keep a bag on hand but the loss is minimal.

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:18 pm

hmmmm. goin to lowes site now. im gonna try my hand at this pic takin thing. the moderator had to make a freakin video to get my dumbass to figure out how to post pics on here.lol i feel like the slow kid in school

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:22 pm

LMAO!!! If you can't find it at Lowe's try Home Depot or even Wal-Mart carries it this time of year.

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:55 pm

I've used Caribsea Eco-Complete

Cichlid Sand in all of my African and Central American tanks for the last four years. Its an aragonite sand, so it keeps the pH high, like the African and CA cichlids like it. I've had very little trouble with the filters.

Mark

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:12 pm

ya ph and water hardness have never been issues here. the tap water comes out perfect for cichlids. in fact i heard a guy in the lfs bitchin about his whatever foo foo fish were always sick and he had to buffer the water or whatever

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:40 pm

I have sand substarte in one of my tanks and I do like it. As kygrl said some gets sucked up during routine maintenance but not much. You don't have to stick the gravel vac down into the sand like you would with gravel. I just hover an inch or so above the sand and it sucks up the lighter waste material that is sitting on top of the sand.

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:47 pm

I just wanted to add, if you do go with sand be sure to stir it up about once a month to get rid of gas pockets that can be harmful to your fish. I use a large plastic stick to do this.(the ones that are used to open and close blinds) I also have trumpet snails to help with the areas I can't get to. (Not sure they would be safe with peacocks though) And also, you might have to leave your filter off for a little while after the change just to let the sand settle. It just really depends on how well you rinse it. I put mine in a large tub outside and stuck a hose in the sand and continually stirred it until the water looked clear. Hope this helps.

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:49 pm

Sand is very easy to clean instead of everything going into the gravel it sits right on top of the sand....You pretty much can just suck from the top of the sand. No need to vac like you do with gravel. Gravel is fine too I have gravel in my Mbuna tank. IMO it is a matter of personal choice...If you feel more confortable using gravel go that route.

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:49 pm

hey thanks all for the good advice. I think im gonna give the sand a try.anyhow
heres my existing filtration: 1 cascade 700 canister filter up t0 65 gallons with 185 GPH. 1 Rena XP2 up 75 gallons with a 300GPH flow rate.
so im good for a 140 gallon aquarium with a 485gph turnover. i read somewhere about water turnover rate but i cant remember what it was. my concern is that have just enough filtration not more than what is needed since im planning on overstocking.
The filter on craigslist is a cascade 1500 and its for up to 200 gallons with a 350GPh.the 1500 is only 30$ but its damn near chicago and i hate drivin in that state anyhow. i dunno once again your thoughts?

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:09 pm

The filtration turn-over rate I always try for is a 5:1 in overstocked tanks, but I also usually feed my fish three to five small meals a day. With normal feeding (1 to 3 meals a day) your 3.5:1 turn-over rate should be fine.

As an example I run two XP-3s on my 100 gal, but the kids get three pellet meals and one to two live/frozen meals a day.

Mark

Subject: Re: substrate Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:36 pm

hmmmmm. well im gonna get that filter anyhow cuz now i will only have one canister going. i dont like the looks of the stuff hangin in the tank. now i only have to figure out how to cover one instead of two.

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substrate

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