Sand and Filter

[ikermalli]

I am going out to buy sand today for my tank because I am getting some cories and I do not want their barbels to hurt. I was reading a review of it and someone said that it will cloud the water for a few seconds with sand and that your filter shouldn't be turned on during this process. When I add my san should the filter also be taken out of my tank? Also, how many gdrops of ammonia did it take people here to get your 20 Gallons to at least 4ppm? Also during my cycling do I add half the dosage of ammonia after the first day or after the ammonia spike?

[emc7]

Can you turn off the filter while the sand in clouding the water? Sand sucked into a filter will abrade the impeller and the impeller chamber, esp. if the impeller is at the bottom of the filter. Filters with impellers in the lid are less affected because the sand falls down away from the impeller. Do what you can to keep the sand out of the filter. Consider a sponge "prefilter" to filter out the sand before it gets in.

[ikermalli]

I think I will just take out my filter because it apparently settles in a few minutes, I cannot find any pure ammonia what are my alternatives?

[fishbone]

Raw shrimp or fish, but it will take time to rot and start producing ammonia. Once it gets going though, there's no stopping

[Ichthius]

Don't you already have a few fish in the tank; black skirts? I don't see the reason in using ammonia if fish are in the tank already...

[ikermalli]

I wanted to start a fishless because the cycling will hurt them is what someone said to me, or should I just continue with the fish in there?

[fishbone]

Holy cow, if you already have fish in there, don't add or do anything else. Just do your regular often partial water changes. I assumed you had no fish, the addition of raw anything would have caused an ammonia spike and most likely killed them.

[ikermalli]

I was going to take them out and cycle fishless haha. Should I just cycle fishy style? I have nowhere to keep the skirt except for a 1G or a bucket

[shade2dope]

It helps to rinse the sand in a bucket and then pour the water out.If you do this it should help.I tried to do this without the bucket an got some foamy junk on the top of water

[ikermalli]

Yeah, that is what ichthius told me to do, she said to put it in a bucket and rinse it a couple times, I am changing to sand tomorrow because it is still early in my cycle and I am getting cories and I do not want their barbels to get hurt

[Dr_House]

The erosion of a corydoras cat's barbels actually has more to do with water quality than substrate, but there's no denying that they prefer sand, so go for it. As far as your filter, I wouldn't worry about removing it from the tank altogether. Just having it shut off should suffice.

[ikermalli]

alright, thank