Sand questions

[Neon_Tetra]

Well I really want sand for my cory catfish and I want to know some things


1) How do I keep it clean i've heard if you dont do water changes right you will have cloudy water, And I have a airstone or what ever and it shoots out bubbles fast from the side of the tank it acts as my current will this affect the sand at all?
2)At petco the sand is called like Marine water sand or somthing it all says marine water! Can I still use that in fresh water?

3) Do I have to have any special filtration for sand so it doesn't clog my filters

4)How do I clean sand so I can put it in my tank
5) Anything I missed that I should know

[azn1stknightsou]

Well the marine sand has salt water in it that has the bacteria that developes your biological filter. Only problem is that its salt water, so I would say no to the marine sand.

Its much cheaper to get a bag of sand from say home depot or lowes. In order to clean it, pour some out into an old pillow case, tie off one end, hang the pillow case up, and spray the sand in the pillow case to clean it.

you airstone should not affect your sand at all. as for water changes, use a gravel vacumm as it sucks up the debris at the bottom of the tank, but rarely will it actually suck up the sand. I only had that happen once and thats bc i pressed the vacumm into the sand and held it there for a really long time.

[DUSTIN323]

Well depends on what type of sand your exactly talkin about you can use some SW sands and Crushed coral in a FW tank, the problem is it makes your water hard and raises your ph this is why many people use it in their African cichlid tanks. But I agree I would use playsand or tahitan moon sand and your airstone wont bother it and you can use a vacum just don't stick it in their just slightly run over it Iwouldn't put sand with a really messy fish like an oscar though

[Neon_Tetra]

Ok thanks