Sand?

[Stillness]

I would love to try sand (black) in my 2.5 just to see how it looks maybe eventually changing to sand in my 20. My question is: how do you clean the sand? Obviously you can't clean it w/ a vacuum so how do you go about removing the debris from the sand.

Any pros cons?

Thanks!

 

[Newman]

pass the vaccuum above the sand back and forth to stir up dirt, then pick that up w/ the vaccuum as it floats up. Its how i clean my hairgrass-planted Flourite, and HC planted eco-complete substrates.

and im pretty sure thats how youre supposed to clean sand.

 

[Stillness]

You prefer sand over gravel?

 

[kenny1tothe6]

No, I hated sand that wasn't black. Black is great, but white....you CANNOT keep clean unless you clean it EVERYDAY of it's life! LOL -

Believe me, I've tried!

 

[billswin]

No, I hated sand that wasn't black. Black is great, but white....you CANNOT keep clean unless you clean it EVERYDAY of it's life! LOL -

Believe me, I've tried!

how dirty can it really get? I was thinking of using play sand in a 75 gal., where do you get black or colored sand that don't cost a fortune?

 

[Newman]

White sand isnt all that bad. well yes it going to get just as dirty as black snad, but youre not gonna see as much on black sand. I personally like white sand. But if i had the resources, id set up a tank with each type of sand

 

[AndiH]

I have play sand in my 14g which is tan color. I've thought about getting a little black sand and covering it so the fish show up better, but it isnt a priority.

 

[homebunnyj]

I've got play sand in my tanks. It contributes to the natural riverbed look I like, with some gravel and larger rocks here and there. If you have some loaches that like to burrow, it helps it look neater, as they tend to disturb the sand enough to hide some of the small detritius. Every so often I disturb the sand a bit myself to keep pockets of poisonous gases from forming.

 

[bmoraski]

i would love to put sand in my , soon to be , 75gal addition.
but from what ive read it seems to be a pain, until you work out your flow situation , depending on HOB or Cannister, and what fish you keep.
but i think i would go dark media and use something that i can put plants in, in the near future.