Finally got sand

[fishfreaks]

After all this time, we've finally got sand! We got 3 50lb bags for $10.00 Tonight we put sand in our 29 Gallon. I would say the sandbed is about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. This is ok right? It didnt take us too long to rinse it all out. We can't hook up a hose outside, so we just set up the python and ran it out the back door Tomorrow we're going to the 55. I will try to get some pics up then

[Damon]

In a non planted tank, thats fine.

[Georgia Peach]

wow, thats great! I would love to have sand in mine!

[euRasian32]

The depth doesn't matter unless you're trying to achieve something specific. As long as you like it! If you don't have any burrowing fish or earth movers, get an afro pic and add it to your maintenance schedule. Poke the sand as often as you do water changes, to avoid anaerobic gas pockets. I have Malaysian livebearing snails, which burrow into the sand. I still poke the sand at least every other water change, or once every two weeks. I change 40-50% weekly.

C

[fishfreaks]

Thanks guys! The 55 gallon is done now, and it's a HUGE improvement In the 29 I'm not worried, the catfish did a find job overnight of rearranging. As for the 55, should we just poke at the sand or really stir it up? Oh and the sand is pretty weighed down itself, it doesnt take more then a few seconds to settle.

[goodie]

Just keep it out of your filters. One of my HOT filters was renamed "the coffee grinder" after awhile. It does look much better than gravel though!!

[mlefev]

When I put sand in my tank I did about 3/4 inch coarse black sand and 1/2 inch powdery gold sand. I (like a dimwit) didn't rinse it first. You should have seen the muck in the tank (and the poor filter bag). It finally settled down, filtered out (washing the filter every 4 hours) and has been fine. I wouldn't stir it up too terribly much. I have noticed that if you leave it alone, the remainder of the loose stuff that would float around is sucked up by the filter with regular debris.

When I clean the tank, if I accidentally stir up the sand, it gets all over in the water, and the fish don't seem particularly happy about it. If you're just stirring it up to see if more dust will come out, then that's fine, but expect to wash your filter media out a few times, and expect it to take at least 6-8 hours to settle.