Fine Sand Substrate Cleaning Madness!!!

A

Antony

Small Fish
#1
Dec 5, 2002
19
0
0
48
Melbourne Australia
www.pbase.com
#1
Guys,

I decided to going something more jazzie in my 3ft tank....

I had previously been running the boring run of the mill gravel but this time I went with a lovely red sand.

It LOOKS AWESOME if I do say so myself!

It has its pros - cons

PROS
=======
Looks awesome
Full of nutrients - ie my plants flourish
Easier for my discus to blowup food from
Did I say it looks awesome already?

CONS
==========
Its very silty so it gets into the filter and its a b$tch to clean.
Cost $$$


And thats where my problem is...

Siphoning is a nightmare event even with my gravel cleaner I have to hover just over the surface of the substratore or loose large volumes of sand down the siphon...

I now have an algae bloom and well its growing on the sand which makes is *VERY* difficult to get off...

Does anyone have any suggestions on how they handle cleaning very fine substrates?

Cheers
Antony
 

niki090909

niki090909

Large Fish
#2
Dec 5, 2002
145
0
0
43
Illinois
Visit site
#2
I wanted to get a fine substrate also, but had the same problem you did, well atleast i figured it would cause problems.

The only way i figured you could clean it would be maybe stir is up a little and use you gravel cleaner to do a water change.

It will make the water look nasty but atleast you will get some of the crud out and what you don't get out will settle back down.

Good luck!
 

A

Antony

Small Fish
#3
Dec 5, 2002
19
0
0
48
Melbourne Australia
www.pbase.com
#3
At the moment I'm kinda swirling the gravel cleaner just over the surface of the sand to stir it up a little...

This generally gets most of the more solid bits to come off....

Might have to just get my hands dirty and get into it to get out the more stubborn pieces...

I was contemplating converting my 65 gal to this stand as well... It just looks so darn good. But with the cleaning woes I'm not too keen..

But I have discus in my 4ft with gravel and a lot of the food drops into gaps in the gravel where the discus don't pick it up...

And the sand weighs a TONNE.

I think a 20kg (ie 44lbs) sack only gave me 2" of substrate on my 36"x14" tank..

Cheers
Antony
 

AndyL

AndyL

Large Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
908
1
0
48
Calgary AB
#5
I'm guessing its laterite you've used as a substrate, most people I know would suggest you cover it up with something... its not good for it to be available to the water column. I'd add some sand over top of it, if it was me.

Andy
 

A

Antony

Small Fish
#6
Dec 5, 2002
19
0
0
48
Melbourne Australia
www.pbase.com
#6
AndyL, Not sure if its laterite? I'll have to find a pic of laterite and see if its the same.

My LFS is reputable store and had it in their discus show tank and I asked what it was and how much.

They did worn me it was a PIA to clean.

But I think the overall look outweighs the cleaning!

I wanted is specifically for my discus tank but I've moved them from my 3' to my 4' tank which has gravel.

Mike: I think the fish net might be the way to go!!! Why didn't I think of that!!!

Cheers
Antony
 

Cackett

Cackett

Large Fish
#9
Oct 22, 2002
406
0
0
43
Basingstoke, hants , UK
#9
nice pic i had a very fine sand in my tank. look cool but the other week ichanged to gravel i had a problem with the filter and the plants staying in. but no longer.
i found using sand over time when you take the first layer off some of the under gets black. nasty looking but thea coupel of my fish loved it hiding there noses in.

to clean i i did was the same hover over the top.
 

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