Adding sand to a setup tank..?

Hi all,

I want to add sand to my tank, the problem is i already have it planted and setup for S.americans with fish in it.

Dont wanna remove all the pea gravel, just wanna add some for my apistos.

Can anyone tell me the easiest way to do it...? and a type of sand that wont coz any problems...?

Alan

Cheapest sand i have seen is in argos, 15kg for something like 5 euros but it would have to be cleaned. Lfs will sell sand also but much more expensive and if i was putting it in my tank i would wash it aswell even it it said it doesn,t need cleaning.

The easiest way i found to put sand in a tank is to put it in a plastic bag, sink it, then make a hole in one corner of the bag and put the sand where you want it. If it is done carefully you shouldn,t get murky water.

You could also get a clean 2litre bottle cut bottom off, fill with sand, put in tank and then unscrew cap and place sand where you want it.

If you put sand in the tank make sure you stir it up regularly with your normal maintenance to stop the build up of toxic gases under the sand.

best of luck with it, post a few pics when done

GB

I think if you are trying to keep sand with pea gravel then you could struggle,if the sand gets mixed with the gravel it will be messy and its not going to look too impressive Im afraid, its also going to be a nightmare to try and clean it up.
If you are changing it over to sand then its straightforward enough but give yourself some time for doing it! If possible place the fish in another container with tank water etc,(you dont necessarily need to,but you will be able to work faster.(just put the filter (if its an internal),& Heater into the container also.).
Scoop the gravel up and siphon the messy remains up afterwards. You will lose some of the bacterial colony from the gravel however the filter should have enough to prevent any recyling developing. Out of caution Id personally get a pair of tights and put a hhandful or two of the gravel into the tights and leave it in the tank. It will ensure there is enough bacteria in there while your sand settles in and acheives a similar colonisation.(You can take the gravel in the tights out after a few weeks max). In terms of putting the sand in. Id personally use ordinary playsand. Its by far the cheapest sand and is easy to get (eg.woodies, most diy stores). Makes sure you wash it throughly before adding to the tank. In terms of adding the sand, Id use the syphon tubing (plastic tube).Similarly a plastic bottle inverted will suffice. Place the nozzle on the bottom of the tank and let the sand slide down into the tank bottom. This way of doing it may be slower but it wont cloud your water as much. The water will be cloudy for about 24 hours of less but it wont do the fish any harm. Place the fish back in after the whole process (although again you wont necessarily have to remove them at all,I just find it quicker to work when your not watching out for fish!). The tank will clear up nicely overnight (put new filter floss in your filter if you wanna speed it up), and hey presto your apistos will be spitting sand around the place in no time!!
If you have plants just be aware that they find it more difficult to root in the sand.

Gavin

Was thinking of putting something into divide were ill have the sand and gravel meeting.

Gerry have pics up some where on the site think it under "south american setup" there about 5 weeks old the tank looks so much different, i will post new pics sonn when i get my apistos

Alan

i recently changed over to sand,
i removed all my fish into a container and filled it up with water from the tank and put a heater and a filter in and another for my plants
i changed over to sand and left the tank fishless for 2 days before puttin fish into it

i love the sand it brightens up the tank so much although the only downside is it looks dirty fairly quickly:)