# Questions and Opinions Needed On Sand



## benny71 (Sep 30, 2010)

OK, I have this tank:










And this tank:










That I plan on switching to sand.

I just went out and bought some mystic white PFS and I think it would look good in the first tank, while I think I want black sand for the second tank...What do you guys think(Black background/black sand and blue background/white sand)?

Also, I just got a shipment of 8 mbamba F1 juvies yesterday that are only about an inch/inch and a half long...Should I wait to change the substrate in there until they are a bit more settled in, or could I go to town on it right now?

The first tank gave me a bit of an ammonia scare the other day, but since doing some big water changes, I've gotten it down to about <.10 ppm. I also took an established HOB filter and added it to this tank for some extra bacteria.

So if you think it would be OK to change the substrate today, should I net the fish into a bucket while I change everything out? If yes, then how long should I keep them in there after the sand is in(I just read that someone killed off some of there fish because they couldn't breath)?

Is the sand going to make my water murky? I've been told that it is pre-washed so I can dump it right in.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I think I'd wait for stable ammonia for a week or so. Your mbamba are in a separate quarantine tank for 3 weeks, right? I would not disturb them yet. If you believe the pre-washed thing...I have a bridge to sell you. :thumb:

I do remove fish when changing substrate...mostly because rocks/decor have to go in first and it's faster if I'm not worrying about fish. The fish should be able to go right back in however...no waiting. Be sure your new substrate is same temp as your tank.


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## benny71 (Sep 30, 2010)

DJRansome said:


> I think I'd wait for stable ammonia for a week or so. Your mbamba are in a separate quarantine tank for 3 weeks, right? I would not disturb them yet. If you believe the pre-washed thing...I have a bridge to sell you. :thumb:
> 
> I do remove fish when changing substrate...mostly because rocks/decor have to go in first and it's faster if I'm not worrying about fish. The fish should be able to go right back in however...no waiting. Be sure your new substrate is same temp as your tank.


All of the fish are less than a week old, so no, the mbamba are in there with the other new fish...A newb like myself doesn't have enough qt tanks to go around. 

Even with 30-40% water changes every other day and now this tank(as of last night) has two dual flow HOBs with established filter media, I should wait?

I checked the ammonia and nitrates a little while ago and the ammonia is under .25ppm(the chart goes from 0.0 to 0.25) and the nitrates are around 10 ppm.

I'm still waiting on your(anyone's) answer before switching it(I'm impatient, but the fish's health is priority one), but what is a good way to rinse the sand thoroughly? I was thinking of spreading it out on an old sheet and hosing it off...The sand won't go through the sheet will it?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'll warn you I am conservative. Why take a risk?



benny71 said:


> All of the fish are less than a week old,


 I'd wait a month to make any changes just to let them settle in. I'm dying to know why you didn't make the switch last week? 



benny71 said:


> Even with 30-40% water changes every other day and now this tank(as of last night) has two dual flow HOBs with established filter media, I should wait?


Water changes every other day should not be necessary. If your bacteria colony was completely established you would have ammonia=0. Unless your dechlor causes an ammonia reading, read the fine print.



benny71 said:


> I checked the ammonia and nitrates a little while ago and the ammonia is under .25ppm(the chart goes from 0.0 to 0.25)


I'd want 0.0 for a week before I disturb a major bacteria media like the substrate.



benny71 said:


> what is a good way to rinse the sand thoroughly


I put a 15lb bag of substrate in a 5G bucket and run the hose full blast through it for 15 minutes. The debris runs over the top of the bucket when the water overflows.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

Agree with previous posters, let things settle and stabilize before making such a drastic change.

I just set up a 180 using PFS (Mystic white) and did not bother rinsing it, just poured it in, then filled the tank. However, in your situation I would definitely rinse the sand as if you pour it through the water column, it is highly likely to cloud the water for a while. Not rinsing worked for me as the tank was completely empty and it was filled slowly via a hose.

In the past I have changed substrates from gravel to sand and vice-versa without removing fish. It is much easier to make the change without fish to worry about however


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## benny71 (Sep 30, 2010)

> I'll warn you I am conservative. Why take a risk?


True...I'll wait awhile.



> I'd wait a month to make any changes just to let them settle in. I'm dying to know why you didn't make the switch last week?


I'm dying to know as well.   



> If your bacteria colony was completely established you would have ammonia=0. Unless your dechlor causes an ammonia reading, read the fine print.


I use Prime...I read the bottle and it doesn't say anything about a false ammonia reading.

I got this tank for free and the guy had it up and running for quite some time; I used all of the old filter media, so I don't know why the bacteria colony isn't established by now. :-?

How often should I be doing changes? The ammonia seems to slowly be dropping, but I've been doing water changes every other day since I got a master kit and found out my water was out of wack(stupid test strips)



> I'd want 0.0 for a week before I disturb a major bacteria media like the substrate.


Will do.



> I put a 15lb bag of substrate in a 5G bucket and run the hose full blast through it for 15 minutes. The debris runs over the top of the bucket when the water overflows.


Good idea...Would it be more affective to put the nozzle of the hose in the bottom of the bucket first before pouring the sand in?



> In the past I have changed substrates from gravel to sand and vice-versa without removing fish


You just left the fish in the tank while you removed the old substrate and poured the sand in?


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## napolde (Sep 29, 2010)

Im not exactly sure about how long you should wait before changing the sand of anything but i think it was a good choice on colors especially the white sand with the blue background, its going to be very bright and pretty!!


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## benny71 (Sep 30, 2010)

napolde said:


> Im not exactly sure about how long you should wait before changing the sand of anything but i think it was a good choice on colors especially the white sand with the blue background, its going to be very bright and pretty!!


Thanks, I agree.

Some people don't like blue backgrounds, but I don't want to have the same thing in every tank. I think the white sand will look really good against the blue background and the rocks will pop out too...It'll also give me a reason to switch the rocks around so they don't look so placed.


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## napolde (Sep 29, 2010)

Yeah i wasnt a big fan of blue backgrounds but its growing on me... your first tank is what i wanted to do with my aquarium but i went with slate and just brown sand instead, only to discover that there is a bunch of holey limestone around here... all the more reason to get another tank, huh?


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## benny71 (Sep 30, 2010)

napolde said:


> Yeah i wasnt a big fan of blue backgrounds but its growing on me... your first tank is what i wanted to do with my aquarium but i went with slate and just brown sand instead, only to discover that there is a bunch of holey limestone around here... all the more reason to get another tank, huh?


Yeah, the tank in the first picture was free...Not too bad, eh? 

A complete stranger on another forum gave it to me and within 5 minutes, someone else offered me about 150 lbs of texas holey rock. I offered to pay for it and he said he didn't want money because he wanted it gone...For some reason he quit responding to my messages, so I never got it. 

I got all of those rocks from a local landscaping store for less than $30.00 though, so it worked out.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Re putting the hose in the bucket, you can use the force of the water to blast your way to the bottom...no need to put it in first. If you are standing over it you can swish the hose around in the substrate periodically too.


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## blusue2 (Sep 9, 2010)

I've never had to put sand in after the water was there, but couldn't you put the sand in a tupperware-type bowl with a lid, invert it into the tank, and remove the lid when you got it to the bottom of the tank? This might avoid the problem of sand going all over the place in the water. Just a thought.
BTW--Your tanks are beautiful!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Some people use a zip lock bag for this. I just drain...add rocks then substrate...and refill.


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## benny71 (Sep 30, 2010)

OK, either adding that other established filter last week has gotten rid of the ammonia, or PRIME(the declor I use) gives off a false ammonia reading for a few days after use, because my ammonia is now reading 0.

I've only had the mbamba juvies for a little over 5 days...How long should I wait before making a substrate change in their aquarium? I'm not sure if this really matters, but their trip took less than two days and they never really showed signs of stress, other than the first couple minutes I added them all to a bucket.

Also, after I rinse all of the new sand, should I fill the bucket up with water and pour in a bunch of conditioner and let the sand soak for awhile?

Edit: I just read that Prime does give a false ammonia reading.


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## benny71 (Sep 30, 2010)

Definitely an improvement IMO.


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## rileysfish (Nov 21, 2010)

I think this turned out rather nice.


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## liquid134 (Feb 22, 2010)

ya ever since i first switched my 30 gallon from gravel to white sand... i cant go back. just set up a 72 gallon bow, and used white sand. looks great!


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