HI I wonder does anyone have any good hints on how to keep sand and gravel seperated in a tank. I was thinking of a piece of bendy perspex but not sure how to weight it or if it will sink.

Thanks

Nessa

Hi Nessa,
have to say i have never seen it done that over time the two didn't mix.

the only way would be to add some sort of feature that would not look out of place but would be at least one inch proud of the surface of the sand and gravel.

could i suggest something designed to look like a root of a tree bog wood cut wedge in to place could be used the underside planed flat, the advantage is that it can be glued so that it can be removed easily if desired.

the disadvantage of sand is that you need to stir it or it goes black.

perspex I would consider a danger to fish at night, the edge could be cut or worse

this is only my idea of doing and am sure some one has the secret and just has not seen this yet

Mickey

Why do you want to do that? I have tanks with sand and gravel and eventually it mixes, however it is easy to separate again with a course fish net, so a few scoops around where it crosses over solves the problem. I hope that helps.

As Micky pointed out the only way is to use decor such as wood/stones to divide the two.

another way to seperate them is using the plastic cover of a c.v. binder it works well and isn,t as severe on fish as perspex.. other than that mickeys suggestion is spot on

good hints thanks. I might have to think of making something up out of some of the drift wood I have collected, that might work. I dont really want to use stone so the wood might be the way to go alright.

I was hoping to have a half moon shaped sandy bit to the front of the tank and push the gravel back so the depth is higher at the sides. This is mostly to save me from having to take it out and just use sand and secondly to help keep the plants in the tank rooted as they are constantly being pulled up as the depth of gravel is not much at the moment.

I hadnt thought of the cover of a cv mainly because I thought I would need something hard to seperate the sand and gravel but there could be something in it.

Thanks for all the food for thought.

Nessa

Hi,

How about pieces of slate to keep the sand and gravel apart? It would look natural if u create a terrace......

I'm using plastic lawn edging brought from aldi to create sections in a tank i'm setting up. It's green so sorta fits in with the plants.

kom

thats another very good idea. never thought of something like the edgings. I supose its off teh the garden centre for me to see what I can use and cant use. The slate is a good idea too. thanks

nessa

Hi,
I got Juwel terrace Rock A and Rock B they're basically plastic mouldings made to look like rocks. They're 12.50 each on ebay from a german company. I have the background to go with them so that's why i got them. i use them to create a higher level mainly and to keep sand in. works well, but sand usually spills over when you go to plant new plants or anything. Slatewould be excellent, or you could use granite or something else. My uncle collects stone cobbles and stone and bricks slates and beams and radiators from places that are being taken down, so I went and got some bits and pieces from him aswell. If there was a place like that near you, they'd prob give you the broken slate for free...the old slates look far better than the new ones. You can make loads of great hide aways from it too with a little aquarium silicone. Perspexs would be good aswell,( don't think it effects the water, but check,) if you could get hold of a hot air gun to mould it. As far as I remember it sinks, but it's been a while since i've made anything with it.
becareful with plastics as I've read some can leech into the water and eventually poison fish.
Oh and remember to boil anything like slate or bogwood before you put it in.

Orla

thanks orla. I have a lot of boiling to do so it will be a while before I actually put the sand in but I think the slate is looking good. I also collected some rocks from the beach (dont tell on me) so I may boil them and see if I can make something out of them. I still like the idea of the perspex because you wont see it in the tank but the slate as you said would give me plenty of hiding places which might be a good thing.

thanks for the hints

nessa