If you stir up the sand then allow the muck to settle you can hover over the top with a gravel cleaner and remove the organic waste without removing the sand.
Black sand is difficult to get hold of but is beautiful in an aquarium - really highlights the colours of the fish. If you wash the sand and add gradually once the gravel is gone, it shouldn't cloud the water too badly.I often pierce loads of tiny holes in the bottom of the sand bag then put a hose in the top, letting it run through for a while and shaking the bag every so often. Should clean it nicely.
The majority of time, yes it will be suitable. It needs way more washing than proper aquarium sand though. We set 30+ tanks up in the shop using play sand and it took weeks to settle but I think I was just unlucky as some people's tanks settle after a few hours. It didn't affect the pH and allowed us to reduce the pH down to 6.5 - 6.8 using peat balls easily, no worries.
Only thing I would worry about there is the plecs eating the shrimps. The plecs and dwarf shrimp do best in softer lower pH (6.5) and the guppies prefer pH of around 7.6. Aiming for pH of 7 may hit in the middle.
Provided the inlet isn't too low or the tank isn't stocked with crazy big fish stirring up the sand a canister filter will be fine. Other filters will be OK too as long as the inlet isn't too near the sand.
Very fine sand will always find it way into filters unfortunately. We normally use a gravel cleaner and hover over the sand to clean it - see 'how to maintain an aquarium' video I did a while back. Filter, lights and heater is the basic kit for keeping fish and plants happy, yes.
Although it will obviously be a very large tank for a giant gourami, it should be easier with gravel as you just need a large very fine net to skim over the top of the sand to remove the waste instead of using a gravel cleaner which would take an age.
If the sand hasn't been completely washed it will be cloudy for a good few days. You can use fine particle matting in the filter and it will quickly remove the colour in the water. I'm not familiar with calcium sand but would imagine that crushed calcium would raise the pH way high and totally harden the water. If you're going for malawi / tanganyikan cichlids that is fine but for all other fish that will be a problem as 90% of the fish available from aquatic stores will prefer a pH under 7.0.
If you take a bucket and half fill with sand then fill the rest up with water stir it up for a minute or so then pour off the water. Repeat until the water runs clear. Thats probably the best way to wash the sand through before adding to the tank and will reduce the cloudiness to a minimum. I should really do a video of that. Fish can go straight in or not be removed if sand is clean enough.
I assume it comes from an inland source as it doesn't have salts in it. We just use ordinary 'aquarium sand' and yes, it will require washing which is best done in a bucket. Just swill it wround and remove any colour or anything which will cloud the water by pouring mucky water off and replacing with fresh, repeating as necessary.
There is so much underwater structure that netting wouldn't work so either draining or electrofishing is the only option although a fishing club may be coming to help fish it out and remove fish to their lake.
350 gallon tank is huge. Most people would go gravel but I'd be inclined to go sand to prevent damage to the mouths of the fish when feeding. If it is an outdoor pond, not a tank I'd go without anything on the base as it will get clogged with muck very quickly.
They are lake Malawi cichlids so do need the hard high pH water so I'd go for a couple of synodontis to keep the sand turned over. However, one of the fish looks like a central American cichlid - the one with the dark blotches along the tail end of its lateral line. Can't place which species though.
I think that is the type we sell in our shop. If so it is well suited to cory and loaches and doesn't raise the pH. Red cherry shrimp should go very red against the black of the substrate.
Provided it is stirred up gently and doesn't end up looking like a snow globe the fish should be fine. Plants, wood etc. can be lifted out if you need to no worries. I suppose if they were out for any period of time they would be best stored in a bucket of tank water.
I usually go for an inch or so but a little deeper is fine provided that every so often you run your fingers through it to avoid any dead spots and prevent it compacting.
If you had a decent division between the two it would be possible but I can't see why you'd want to do that as the gravel area would still be unsuitable for ground feeders and raise the pH of the aquarium water.
I know the types of angelfish but was thrown as they were referred to as 'scalares' and were in the same tank as goldfish which is a strange mix. Thought scalares was some sort of coldwater fish I hadn't heard of and never thought it could be angel as angels and goldfish are so far apart in terms of water requirements I didn't think anyone would contemplate keeping them together in the same tank.
I'm surprised that the rainwater has ammonia in but maybe its because you are in a hot country and the rain may have different composition to over here where it rains all the time. Tap water is way high but it also is in most of southern England as it needs to be highly treated before being considered 'safe' to drink.
I would assume that the sand from the desert will be OK but not from the beach as beach sand will have alot of salts on it which will affect water quality. If you do get some desert sand put some tank water in a filtered container and add some sand. Monitor the pH over a week or so and if it doesn't rise it should be fine.
We used play sand in some of our shop tanks when we were setting them up and although we washed it it took weeks to clear the tanks. We may have just been unlucky to get some with lots of problems but now its clean it is fine - no problem. It took loads of fine matting in the filters replaced daily to clear the water but it could just have been that particular batch which was iffy.
If it is a tropical tank,then I would always go sand as fish can feed in it and keep it turned over. I don't have any experience of glass beads but would assume that the 1mm ones would act like a very fine gravel / coarse sand so would be OK for tropical tank.Larger glass pebbles would be probably no good for fish due to their size.
They would spawn on a lump of flat bogwood or slate lying on on the bottom of the tank. I'd always go sand as gravel will most certainly push the pH up / harden water and prevent any attempts to reduce it.
Larger clown loaches should still dig in finer gravel without too much problem but corydoras really struggle unless the gravel is very fine. The real issue is often that gravel can (and usually does) cause the pH to rise to 7.5 ish which isn't too good for most tetras, danios, catfish, killifish, south american cichlids etc. Usually in time th pH will come down but that can take many months until a bio coating forms on the gravel to 'seal' it and prevent it raising pH.
If the intake of an internal filter is resting on the bottom of the tank or the sand is totally stirred up then the filter may suck some in but not in any sort of quantity to worry about. I would always choose sand especially if I wanted to set the pH lower than 7 and keep tetras, rams, corydoras as gravel often raises the pH and corydoras need sand to feed in (gravel wears out their mouth and barbules)
If its thoroughly washed through it should be OK depending on where in the world you gathered it from. Only way is to check water quality, pH regularly for a week or so before adding the fish if no change then assume OK.
Internals are fine and I'd always go a bit bigger than recommended if you have large fish. They are fine with sand provided the intake isn't very near the bottom of the tank.
I'm assuming its an unheated tank but don't know what 'scalars' are. Some barbs and goldfish will be fine in a pH higher than most tropical fish are found in so there is probably no need to change to sand unless you want to go tropical or change the look of the tank.
25kg should just about do it which ranges from £23 for plain aquarium sand to £30 for black sand and the easiest way to change it is to strip the whole tank down, saving all the water. It will need to be no more than 20mm-25mm deep for most of the area but a little deeper if you are planting into it.
If sand is too deep (over about 20mm) and the loaches / corydoras can't keep it turned over it can lead to dead spots of trapped organic debris which can cause problems with water quality.
Hi Richard. I am setting up my aquariums after a long term illness. I have gone down the sand road as most of the fish i will be keeping are loach catfish clams and crayfish. If i suck up any sand i am sure iy can be cleaned and put back. I will be buying biohome aswell. Nice to be back keeping fish again. Great videos by the way.Lynn.
Yes sand which is sucked out can be returned no problem. Sand is definitely the best choice for loaches and crayfish love it too. Glad you enjoy the videos and thanks for watching.
Internal filters take up too much space in a small tank and an external filter for each of our 100 tanks. A maintenance apocalypse. We could have gone system like most chain stores but then you can't tailor each tank to each species' requirements and then you run the risk of cross contamination if there is a problem with one of the tanks. We use internals on the sand bottom tanks as they are larger than most of the ones with under gravel filters.
It is an internal filter and the cable is sealed into the pump part so it is designed for immersion in water. Assuming there has been no damage to the housing it will not be a hazard.
I wouldn't personally go bigger then apistogramma cacatuiodes which get to around 4" (males). I suppose some people would cram central american cichlids in there but it is too small for that. Rams would also do well in a 3' or any of the other species of apistogramma.
I have no idea what your fish are but if they're tropical I would go sand and if coldwater either sand or gravel for reasons explained in video. Small coldwater species are better on sand.
I personally wouldn't use sand from the beach. I tend to use sand which is marketed for aquarium use but it is available in different colours (although black sand is very expensive)
I changed to sand when one of my Black Moors got a piece of gravel stuck in his mouth. I don't bother cleaning the sand as the organic waste breaks down pretty quickly and hasn't affected ammonia levels at all. I stir it occasionally to avoid any build up of toxins. As I have fancies, I run two pumps to ensure the tank stays clean along with a 25% PWC each week.
Main difference is the temperature. Tropical tanks have a heater and that dictates the species which can be kept. Algae does grow much more strongly in cold water tanks and you've just got to scrub it off the glass. In tropical tanks there are a nation of species which will eat the algae so that tank will be much easier to keep clean.
I should really do a video of this. You half fill a bucket with sand then top up with water stir the sand up well for 30 seconds or so then empty out the water. Repeat until water runs clear. This should remove most of the dust and muck from the sand then add to tank.
African cichlids live in high pH hard water and any corydoras or loaches (and most catfish) are from low pH soft water so they don't mix. You could go for synodontis catfish as they are native to the African lakes. Synodontis multipunctatus is the one I would go for and they prefer to be in small groups. If your cichlids are from African rivers, many of them are lower pH fish. If you give me an idea of species I can better advise.,
I think I cover that in this video. Just stir up the sand then hover over it with a gravel cleaner to suck up the organic waste once it has settled on the top of the sand.
The best way is to remove the fish and other creatures with 50% of the water to a holding tank or similar. Then just scoop out all the gravel and replace with sand which has been washed thoroughly. If the water in the tank looks too dirty empty it out and then replace with the original tank water containing the creatures and top up with fresh water. Allow to settle for half an hour or so then turn on the filter to remove residual suspended muck. (filter floss will help)
It may be worth getting some and adding it to a glass of water you know the pH of (ideally 7 or below) to see if it raises the pH over a day or two. If it does then it will not be suitable for soiuth american / asian species but would be OK for malawi or tanganyikan cichlids.
I'm setting up a small tank for a Betta. For the first time I bought sand. And I make sure to get a dark color, because I read the bright gravel or sand will cause stress in the fish. I think your video makes me feel like I am headed in a good direction. Very informative and well made video, I thank you for your time and care.
Yes sand is definitely a better option for most of the fish kept in aquariums, especially tropical fish. Glad you enjoyed the video and best of luck with your fish keeping.
Just ordinary aquarium sand. Some people use playpit sand as it is very fine. We used that in the shop for about 30 of our tanks (to save money) and it took weeks to clear - we were swapping fine foams in the internal filters almost daily as they blocked up with fine sand which was most annoying. The 'proper' aquarium sand (not coral sand - it raises pH) settles much quicker.
Marine sand may raise the pH and harden the water. Coral sand certainly will. Just check with the supplier before buying as the fish you mentioned won't want a high pH.
Hi Pondguru I bought 50 kg of "white cichlide sand" as they call it here in Denmark and it took about three months before the water looked okay even though I washed the sand before I came it in. I bought a 24 watt green killing machine(Uv-filter) and a new external filter(JBL CristalProfi e901 GL) so now it looks pretty good.
Depends what sort of fish you have in there. Large cichlids / plecs will stir it up and if the filter inlet is near the base of the tank it may draw some sand in if it is very fine.
Taking the gravel out isn't too much of an issue but the sand which goes in will need a damn good washing. If you push dozens of tiny holes in the bottom of the bag of sand and let a garden hose run through it slowly for an hour or so, every so often shake up the bag to release sediment it will remove most of the dust and colour so when it goes into the tank it won't colour up too bad. Best option is to strip down the tank and remove / replace substrate if you have storage available for water.
Yeah, no worries, man. You're lucky to have a real grafter especially if it is a common plec. Problem is if it is a common plec as they get older they get lazy and end up producing more waste than they clean up, lol. Hopefully it will be a bristlenose or other species which will continue to eat the algae as it grows. Thanks for watching.
I used playsand in some of our tanks and it took weeks to see out. We went through so much fine particle matting that it would have worked out cheaper and much quicker to use proper aquarium sand.
With really small gravel corydoras and loaches will find it a little easier to feed but you'll still have the same problem with the gravel raising the pH above comfort zone of Amazonian and Asian fish.
Thank you for taking the time to pass on this great piece of information. This helped me to make (a long thought-out), final determination to switch to sand.
Generally I would advise having sand for all tropical tanks but many of the tanks in the shop were set up with undergravel filters long before I knew better. I am waiting to see if the small moving bed filters I designed are being made up by the company I shared the design with then I will convert all the undergravels to sand.
They live at the lower end of tropical and will not mind unheated water provided the tank is at room temperature (around 20 degrees C). I would always use sand.
Yes, and yes. You have it planned out fine but make sure the sand is washed, washed and washed again to remove as many particles as possible as that will not be time wasted. The sand will suit the pictus cats better too and allow you to reduce the pH if you ever want to as it does not raise pH like most gravels do.
Any common tetras are fine for beginners but goldfish are quite messy creatures and obviously coldwater, not tropical, so would have a tank of their own. Provided the tank was a decent size your goldfish could have white cloud mountain minnows as tankmates as they do well in cold water. Snails are available for tropical and coldwater.
I always just advise using proper aquarium sand. If you add up the entire cost of an aquarium and everything in it, using proper sand adds very little to the cost. We used play sand in about 20 of our new tanks in the shop and it took weeks for the tanks to settle out, costing us 2 internal filters and a nation of fine particle matting. Not sure what was in it but it clouded the water badly. It's fine now but cost us a few weeks of sales due to the delay before we could stock the tanks.
Thank you! Your good advice helped me make up my mind. I had sand had changed to gravel so I could have an underground filter but the Cory's don't like it. Now I'm going to change from gravel back to sand. I love my little Cory's and they were happier with sand, now I know why.
Oscars need extra filtration which ideally will be external and remove much of the waste as in gravel it will just get lost and really stink the place up. I suppose coarse sand is a very good choice as a middle ground. Whenever I'm doing a video on tropical fish I'm not really considering the larger fish as I'm not a fan of them but maybe I should do a video about the care of larger species instead of the community fish.
Thank you for your answer! Scalars are Angelfish (Pterophyllum altum), i have heating system in my tank. I really would like to change to sand, because i like it much more! Sorry about my english, is not the best. Best regards, Victoria
Great video! I converted my Oscar & Pleco tank from coarse gravel to sand. Mainly because I was not happy with how all the crap ended up getting packed down into the gravel and polluting. With sand I find it much easier to keep clean, as most of the major droppings stay on top of the sand bed, making removing it a much easier task.
Whilst cory can survive varied water parameters,its more the physical stress of feeding in gravel which does them no good - especially with the smaller species.
jericho2877 Thanks for order I will be posting out today as I'm back from holiday now and will be packaging up orders all day. Shrimps don't mind gravel but may be eaten by loaches. The yo-yo loaches grow fast and big so will eat the dwarf species of shrimps but should be OK with bamboo / wood / armoured shrimp. For a new tank I would always go with new stuff if there have been problems with old tank but if old tank has been sweet then transferring ornaments etc. is no worries.
Pondguru I have received media thanks.. I was wondering if I should use pool filter sand or aquarium sand. pool filter sand comes pre washed and I have seen videos and article saying that people recommend pool filter sand what do you recon.
jericho2877 Pool sand seems popular although I have never used it myself. Either will be fine as far as I know pool sand doesn't affect pH either.Glad your order arrived safely.
I never trim the roots, just open them up in the shape of pengiuns feet, bury in sand and secure with a stone or ornament. Once the roots have picked up sand the plant will be weighted enough to stay put.
Most people do still have gravel for tropical fish unfortunately. Its OK if its very fine gravel and the corydoras are large. Luckily Peppered cory are one of the larger variety.
I bought play sand from Home Depot a couple years ago. It was cheap and has been working just fine. I typically put in 2" of sand in my african cichlid tank since they tend to landscape quite a bit. I find the deeper the sand, the less likely you are to end up with the bottom of the tank showing through.
Khuli loaches will move through gravel and turn it over slightly, large cichlids will pick it up and move it about but its much easier to keep sand looking good.
You really need to take a water sample to a shop you can trust along with pictures of the tank. Once the water is tested and pictures are viewed they should be able to offer some advice. I cannot test water from here. Not knowing what the shop tanks are like I don't know if the problem source is there or with tap water? or something else.
Aquarium sand is always best as it tends to have very little organic matter. Some people skimp on the sand cost then spend the next few weeks with cloudy water and loads of fine filter pads used up to clear it. Not sure what sort pets at home do but we've never had any issues with ours apart from very temporary clouding which will happen with the best of sands.
Should be no worries. If in doubt, switch the filter off when cleaning or stirring up the sand.
If you stir up the sand then allow the muck to settle you can hover over the top with a gravel cleaner and remove the organic waste without removing the sand.
Black sand is difficult to get hold of but is beautiful in an aquarium - really highlights the colours of the fish. If you wash the sand and add gradually once the gravel is gone, it shouldn't cloud the water too badly.I often pierce loads of tiny holes in the bottom of the sand bag then put a hose in the top, letting it run through for a while and shaking the bag every so often. Should clean it nicely.
The majority of time, yes it will be suitable. It needs way more washing than proper aquarium sand though. We set 30+ tanks up in the shop using play sand and it took weeks to settle but I think I was just unlucky as some people's tanks settle after a few hours. It didn't affect the pH and allowed us to reduce the pH down to 6.5 - 6.8 using peat balls easily, no worries.
Only thing I would worry about there is the plecs eating the shrimps. The plecs and dwarf shrimp do best in softer lower pH (6.5) and the guppies prefer pH of around 7.6. Aiming for pH of 7 may hit in the middle.
Provided the inlet isn't too low or the tank isn't stocked with crazy big fish stirring up the sand a canister filter will be fine. Other filters will be OK too as long as the inlet isn't too near the sand.
Very fine sand will always find it way into filters unfortunately. We normally use a gravel cleaner and hover over the sand to clean it - see 'how to maintain an aquarium' video I did a while back. Filter, lights and heater is the basic kit for keeping fish and plants happy, yes.
It can take a day or two. If you put some filter floss / fine particle matting in the filter it will settle out much quicker.
Although it will obviously be a very large tank for a giant gourami, it should be easier with gravel as you just need a large very fine net to skim over the top of the sand to remove the waste instead of using a gravel cleaner which would take an age.
If the sand hasn't been completely washed it will be cloudy for a good few days. You can use fine particle matting in the filter and it will quickly remove the colour in the water. I'm not familiar with calcium sand but would imagine that crushed calcium would raise the pH way high and totally harden the water. If you're going for malawi / tanganyikan cichlids that is fine but for all other fish that will be a problem as 90% of the fish available from aquatic stores will prefer a pH under 7.0.
If you take a bucket and half fill with sand then fill the rest up with water stir it up for a minute or so then pour off the water. Repeat until the water runs clear.
Thats probably the best way to wash the sand through before adding to the tank and will reduce the cloudiness to a minimum. I should really do a video of that. Fish can go straight in or not be removed if sand is clean enough.
I assume it comes from an inland source as it doesn't have salts in it. We just use ordinary 'aquarium sand' and yes, it will require washing which is best done in a bucket. Just swill it wround and remove any colour or anything which will cloud the water by pouring mucky water off and replacing with fresh, repeating as necessary.
There is so much underwater structure that netting wouldn't work so either draining or electrofishing is the only option although a fishing club may be coming to help fish it out and remove fish to their lake.
350 gallon tank is huge. Most people would go gravel but I'd be inclined to go sand to prevent damage to the mouths of the fish when feeding. If it is an outdoor pond, not a tank I'd go without anything on the base as it will get clogged with muck very quickly.
They are lake Malawi cichlids so do need the hard high pH water so I'd go for a couple of synodontis to keep the sand turned over. However, one of the fish looks like a central American cichlid - the one with the dark blotches along the tail end of its lateral line. Can't place which species though.
I think that is the type we sell in our shop. If so it is well suited to cory and loaches and doesn't raise the pH. Red cherry shrimp should go very red against the black of the substrate.
Provided it is stirred up gently and doesn't end up looking like a snow globe the fish should be fine. Plants, wood etc. can be lifted out if you need to no worries. I suppose if they were out for any period of time they would be best stored in a bucket of tank water.
I usually go for an inch or so but a little deeper is fine provided that every so often you run your fingers through it to avoid any dead spots and prevent it compacting.
If you had a decent division between the two it would be possible but I can't see why you'd want to do that as the gravel area would still be unsuitable for ground feeders and raise the pH of the aquarium water.
I know the types of angelfish but was thrown as they were referred to as 'scalares' and were in the same tank as goldfish which is a strange mix. Thought scalares was some sort of coldwater fish I hadn't heard of and never thought it could be angel as angels and goldfish are so far apart in terms of water requirements I didn't think anyone would contemplate keeping them together in the same tank.
If they are switched on, the pump and heater shouls always be submerged. Fine to use kettle watermixed with tap water, no worries.
I'm surprised that the rainwater has ammonia in but maybe its because you are in a hot country and the rain may have different composition to over here where it rains all the time. Tap water is way high but it also is in most of southern England as it needs to be highly treated before being considered 'safe' to drink.
I would assume that the sand from the desert will be OK but not from the beach as beach sand will have alot of salts on it which will affect water quality. If you do get some desert sand put some tank water in a filtered container and add some sand. Monitor the pH over a week or so and if it doesn't rise it should be fine.
We used play sand in some of our shop tanks when we were setting them up and although we washed it it took weeks to clear the tanks. We may have just been unlucky to get some with lots of problems but now its clean it is fine - no problem. It took loads of fine matting in the filters replaced daily to clear the water but it could just have been that particular batch which was iffy.
If it is a tropical tank,then I would always go sand as fish can feed in it and keep it turned over. I don't have any experience of glass beads but would assume that the 1mm ones would act like a very fine gravel / coarse sand so would be OK for tropical tank.Larger glass pebbles would be probably no good for fish due to their size.
They would spawn on a lump of flat bogwood or slate lying on on the bottom of the tank. I'd always go sand as gravel will most certainly push the pH up / harden water and prevent any attempts to reduce it.
Will do, no worries, man.
Larger clown loaches should still dig in finer gravel without too much problem but corydoras really struggle unless the gravel is very fine. The real issue is often that gravel can (and usually does) cause the pH to rise to 7.5 ish which isn't too good for most tetras, danios, catfish, killifish, south american cichlids etc. Usually in time th pH will come down but that can take many months until a bio coating forms on the gravel to 'seal' it and prevent it raising pH.
If the intake of an internal filter is resting on the bottom of the tank or the sand is totally stirred up then the filter may suck some in but not in any sort of quantity to worry about. I would always choose sand especially if I wanted to set the pH lower than 7 and keep tetras, rams, corydoras as gravel often raises the pH and corydoras need sand to feed in (gravel wears out their mouth and barbules)
If its thoroughly washed through it should be OK depending on where in the world you gathered it from. Only way is to check water quality, pH regularly for a week or so before adding the fish if no change then assume OK.
No worries. They will not conflict with each other.
Internals are fine and I'd always go a bit bigger than recommended if you have large fish. They are fine with sand provided the intake isn't very near the bottom of the tank.
I'm assuming its an unheated tank but don't know what 'scalars' are. Some barbs and goldfish will be fine in a pH higher than most tropical fish are found in so there is probably no need to change to sand unless you want to go tropical or change the look of the tank.
No worries, glad you found the video useful.
If you slope the pond down to one end and site the pump there it will suck the majority of the muck out and send it to to the filter.
25kg should just about do it which ranges from £23 for plain aquarium sand to £30 for black sand and the easiest way to change it is to strip the whole tank down, saving all the water. It will need to be no more than 20mm-25mm deep for most of the area but a little deeper if you are planting into it.
If sand is too deep (over about 20mm) and the loaches / corydoras can't keep it turned over it can lead to dead spots of trapped organic debris which can cause problems with water quality.
No worries, thanks for watching.
Hi Richard. I am setting up my aquariums after a long term illness. I have gone down the sand road as most of the fish i will be keeping are loach catfish clams and crayfish. If i suck up any sand i am sure iy can be cleaned and put back. I will be buying biohome aswell. Nice to be back keeping fish again. Great videos by the way.Lynn.
Yes sand which is sucked out can be returned no problem. Sand is definitely the best choice for loaches and crayfish love it too. Glad you enjoy the videos and thanks for watching.
Internal filters take up too much space in a small tank and an external filter for each of our 100 tanks. A maintenance apocalypse. We could have gone system like most chain stores but then you can't tailor each tank to each species' requirements and then you run the risk of cross contamination if there is a problem with one of the tanks. We use internals on the sand bottom tanks as they are larger than most of the ones with under gravel filters.
Maybe another viewer will know but I tend to just go for hardy plants with very few light / nutrient requirements, therefore almost no maintenance.
It is an internal filter and the cable is sealed into the pump part so it is designed for immersion in water. Assuming there has been no damage to the housing it will not be a hazard.
I wouldn't personally go bigger then apistogramma cacatuiodes which get to around 4" (males). I suppose some people would cram central american cichlids in there but it is too small for that. Rams would also do well in a 3' or any of the other species of apistogramma.
They do root about in the sand and fish out any uneaten food but they should still be fed - ideally on sinking food which gets down to them fast.
I have no idea what your fish are but if they're tropical I would go sand and if coldwater either sand or gravel for reasons explained in video. Small coldwater species are better on sand.
I personally wouldn't use sand from the beach. I tend to use sand which is marketed for aquarium use but it is available in different colours (although black sand is very expensive)
Not sure why you would want to do that but you could try. It would get mixed up quickly though.
Either lift the filter up if it is an internal or cut the intake pipe down if it is an external filter.
I changed to sand when one of my Black Moors got a piece of gravel stuck in his mouth. I don't bother cleaning the sand as the organic waste breaks down pretty quickly and hasn't affected ammonia levels at all. I stir it occasionally to avoid any build up of toxins. As I have fancies, I run two pumps to ensure the tank stays clean along with a 25% PWC each week.
Main difference is the temperature. Tropical tanks have a heater and that dictates the species which can be kept.
Algae does grow much more strongly in cold water tanks and you've just got to scrub it off the glass. In tropical tanks there are a nation of species which will eat the algae so that tank will be much easier to keep clean.
I should really do a video of this. You half fill a bucket with sand then top up with water stir the sand up well for 30 seconds or so then empty out the water. Repeat until water runs clear. This should remove most of the dust and muck from the sand then add to tank.
African cichlids live in high pH hard water and any corydoras or loaches (and most catfish) are from low pH soft water so they don't mix. You could go for synodontis catfish as they are native to the African lakes. Synodontis multipunctatus is the one I would go for and they prefer to be in small groups. If your cichlids are from African rivers, many of them are lower pH fish. If you give me an idea of species I can better advise.,
I think I cover that in this video. Just stir up the sand then hover over it with a gravel cleaner to suck up the organic waste once it has settled on the top of the sand.
Yes, no worries.
No worries, thanks for watching and appreciating.
The best way is to remove the fish and other creatures with 50% of the water to a holding tank or similar. Then just scoop out all the gravel and replace with sand which has been washed thoroughly. If the water in the tank looks too dirty empty it out and then replace with the original tank water containing the creatures and top up with fresh water. Allow to settle for half an hour or so then turn on the filter to remove residual suspended muck. (filter floss will help)
It may be worth getting some and adding it to a glass of water you know the pH of (ideally 7 or below) to see if it raises the pH over a day or two. If it does then it will not be suitable for soiuth american / asian species but would be OK for malawi or tanganyikan cichlids.
A well established Java Fern may be the only one I can think of which won't get battered to bits by the GG.
I'm setting up a small tank for a Betta. For the first time I bought sand. And I make sure to get a dark color, because I read the bright gravel or sand will cause stress in the fish. I think your video makes me feel like I am headed in a good direction. Very informative and well made video, I thank you for your time and care.
Yes sand is definitely a better option for most of the fish kept in aquariums, especially tropical fish. Glad you enjoyed the video and best of luck with your fish keeping.
Sand is good for most tropicals, yes. We are about 10 minutes west of Newcastle, postcode NE43 7BT. Not sure how long from Darlington - maybe 45mins?
Just ordinary aquarium sand. Some people use playpit sand as it is very fine. We used that in the shop for about 30 of our tanks (to save money) and it took weeks to clear - we were swapping fine foams in the internal filters almost daily as they blocked up with fine sand which was most annoying. The 'proper' aquarium sand (not coral sand - it raises pH) settles much quicker.
Marine sand may raise the pH and harden the water. Coral sand certainly will.
Just check with the supplier before buying as the fish you mentioned won't want a high pH.
Hi Pondguru
I bought 50 kg of "white cichlide sand" as they call it here in Denmark and it took about three months before the water looked okay even though I washed the sand before I came it in. I bought a 24 watt green killing machine(Uv-filter) and a new external filter(JBL CristalProfi e901 GL) so now it looks pretty good.
The ultra fine gravel is hit and miss as to wether it will raise the pH. Generally the coloured expensive very fine gravel is OK.
Depends what sort of fish you have in there. Large cichlids / plecs will stir it up and if the filter inlet is near the base of the tank it may draw some sand in if it is very fine.
Taking the gravel out isn't too much of an issue but the sand which goes in will need a damn good washing. If you push dozens of tiny holes in the bottom of the bag of sand and let a garden hose run through it slowly for an hour or so, every so often shake up the bag to release sediment it will remove most of the dust and colour so when it goes into the tank it won't colour up too bad.
Best option is to strip down the tank and remove / replace substrate if you have storage available for water.
Yeah, no worries, man.
You're lucky to have a real grafter especially if it is a common plec.
Problem is if it is a common plec as they get older they get lazy and end up producing more waste than they clean up, lol.
Hopefully it will be a bristlenose or other species which will continue to eat the algae as it grows.
Thanks for watching.
I used playsand in some of our tanks and it took weeks to see out. We went through so much fine particle matting that it would have worked out cheaper and much quicker to use proper aquarium sand.
With really small gravel corydoras and loaches will find it a little easier to feed but you'll still have the same problem with the gravel raising the pH above comfort zone of Amazonian and Asian fish.
Any large species of cichlids seem to be messy devils. Sand may help but maybe a bigger / extra filter is needed.
There are plenty of videos on youtube on how to change to sand so I don't want to retread that ground with another one.
Thank you for taking the time to pass on this great piece of information. This helped me to make (a long thought-out), final determination to switch to sand.
No worries and I'm glad you found the video useful. My voice in these older videos was even more boring than it is in the modern videos, lol
Generally I would advise having sand for all tropical tanks but many of the tanks in the shop were set up with undergravel filters long before I knew better. I am waiting to see if the small moving bed filters I designed are being made up by the company I shared the design with then I will convert all the undergravels to sand.
They live at the lower end of tropical and will not mind unheated water provided the tank is at room temperature (around 20 degrees C). I would always use sand.
Yes, and yes. You have it planned out fine but make sure the sand is washed, washed and washed again to remove as many particles as possible as that will not be time wasted.
The sand will suit the pictus cats better too and allow you to reduce the pH if you ever want to as it does not raise pH like most gravels do.
Any common tetras are fine for beginners but goldfish are quite messy creatures and obviously coldwater, not tropical, so would have a tank of their own. Provided the tank was a decent size your goldfish could have white cloud mountain minnows as tankmates as they do well in cold water. Snails are available for tropical and coldwater.
I always just advise using proper aquarium sand. If you add up the entire cost of an aquarium and everything in it, using proper sand adds very little to the cost. We used play sand in about 20 of our new tanks in the shop and it took weeks for the tanks to settle out, costing us 2 internal filters and a nation of fine particle matting. Not sure what was in it but it clouded the water badly. It's fine now but cost us a few weeks of sales due to the delay before we could stock the tanks.
You can use any filter except an undergravel filter plate.
Thank you! Your good advice helped me make up my mind. I had sand had changed to gravel so I could have an underground filter but the Cory's don't like it. Now I'm going to change from gravel back to sand. I love my little Cory's and they were happier with sand, now I know why.
Yes corydoras definitely need sand as do loaches and other ground feeding fish.
Oscars need extra filtration which ideally will be external and remove much of the waste as in gravel it will just get lost and really stink the place up. I suppose coarse sand is a very good choice as a middle ground.
Whenever I'm doing a video on tropical fish I'm not really considering the larger fish as I'm not a fan of them but maybe I should do a video about the care of larger species instead of the community fish.
Thank you for your answer! Scalars are Angelfish (Pterophyllum altum), i have heating system in my tank. I really would like to change to sand, because i like it much more!
Sorry about my english, is not the best.
Best regards,
Victoria
Great video!
I converted my Oscar & Pleco tank from coarse gravel to sand.
Mainly because I was not happy with how all the crap ended up getting packed down into the gravel and polluting.
With sand I find it much easier to keep clean, as most of the major droppings stay on top of the sand bed, making removing it a much easier task.
Ok good point 👍
Whilst cory can survive varied water parameters,its more the physical stress of feeding in gravel which does them no good - especially with the smaller species.
jericho2877 Thanks for order I will be posting out today as I'm back from holiday now and will be packaging up orders all day.
Shrimps don't mind gravel but may be eaten by loaches. The yo-yo loaches grow fast and big so will eat the dwarf species of shrimps but should be OK with bamboo / wood / armoured shrimp.
For a new tank I would always go with new stuff if there have been problems with old tank but if old tank has been sweet then transferring ornaments etc. is no worries.
Pondguru I have received media thanks.. I was wondering if I should use pool filter sand or aquarium sand. pool filter sand comes pre washed and I have seen videos and article saying that people recommend pool filter sand what do you recon.
jericho2877 Pool sand seems popular although I have never used it myself. Either will be fine as far as I know pool sand doesn't affect pH either.Glad your order arrived safely.
It will gradually clear as your filtration will filter out the very fine particles.
No worries, man. Thanks for watching and appreciating.
I never trim the roots, just open them up in the shape of pengiuns feet, bury in sand and secure with a stone or ornament. Once the roots have picked up sand the plant will be weighted enough to stay put.
For freshwater tropical or coldwater I'd always go sand if there was going to be any catfish or loaches in there.
No worries, man.
Thats a good idea for goldfish as they are very 'dirty' fish compared to many tropicals.
Most people do still have gravel for tropical fish unfortunately. Its OK if its very fine gravel and the corydoras are large. Luckily Peppered cory are one of the larger variety.
I bought play sand from Home Depot a couple years ago. It was cheap and has been working just fine. I typically put in 2" of sand in my african cichlid tank since they tend to landscape quite a bit. I find the deeper the sand, the less likely you are to end up with the bottom of the tank showing through.
Khuli loaches will move through gravel and turn it over slightly, large cichlids will pick it up and move it about but its much easier to keep sand looking good.
Thanks Richard, great explanation of reasons for either setup. I appreciated the summarization at the end of the video.
No worries. Glad to be of assistance.
Thanks for watching and appreciating the videos.
No sé de ningún arena apropiada para su uso con placas biológicas así que si quieres cambiar a la arena que es necesario un filtro interno o externo.
I'm not familiar with 'cichlid sand' but if it looks good and doesn't send the pH sky high (unless you want it to with Rift cichlids) then great, man.
You really need to take a water sample to a shop you can trust along with pictures of the tank. Once the water is tested and pictures are viewed they should be able to offer some advice. I cannot test water from here. Not knowing what the shop tanks are like I don't know if the problem source is there or with tap water? or something else.
Aquarium sand is always best as it tends to have very little organic matter. Some people skimp on the sand cost then spend the next few weeks with cloudy water and loads of fine filter pads used up to clear it. Not sure what sort pets at home do but we've never had any issues with ours apart from very temporary clouding which will happen with the best of sands.
No worries, man. Glad you found it useful.