Sand as a substrate???

[lesley]

Hi guys,

have been running a tank with sand only and an anubia on driftwood. I have seen some photos with sand base that I really liked the look of.

I have run into a major problem with the tank, have currently taken the fish out and they are in a smaller BB while I sort out their tank. I feel that maybe the sand was not cleaned quite enough, it took 48 hours initially to get the water clear. Tank has been running about 6 weeks. I have been changing water every 24 - 48 hours about half. By the time 24 hours has passed you can really "see" the water - it is cloudy but you can sort of see individual minute particles. The fish have been eating normally and are normally responsive but I felt that they were not quite right and I am worried that the water may have had a high bacterial load.

Have enclosed pic that shows the general mistiness,

The water I am using to replace is also used in two other tanks and the water in them is crystal crystal clear and fish are happy.

Any comments on pros and cons of sand bottoms please?

[ChloroPhil]

Lesley,

That looks fine. The grain size may be a bit small, but it's hard to tell in the picture. If you're doing those heavy water changes all the time there shouldn't be any problems. There may be residual dust issues which is likely since the other two tanks are doing ok with the same water source.

Best,
Phil

[jrpatter]

I use sand in a couple of non discus tanks, and let me tell you the type of sand you get makes a huge differance, some of it just never settles and is very brittle and just keeps breaking up more everytime you move it around. I find a bag of just plain old playground sand from lowes works well.

john

[3rdworldgod]

I've been using sand in a non-discus tank for years and the best way to clean it and get as much dust and crud out as possible is to put it in a 5 gallon bucket, stick the garden hose in it all the way to the bottom and let the water overflow out of the bucket. Work the hose around the bottom to help agitate the sand release the dust. Only fill the bucket up about halfway with sand or up to the point where the sand is not also blown out by the force of the hose. All the waste and dust will flow to the top and out of the bucket. Occassionally take the hose out and tip the bucket over to the point where you can get most of the water with the junk floating around to run off the top of the sand. You may lose a little sand, but it's minimal if you are careful. Repeat this over and over until the water runs clear a few times. You may still have some cloudiness, but that will get a lot of the dust out, and the cloudiness should go away quicker.

I also met a guy who uses fine glass pellets used for sandblasting in a planted discus tank. That stuff is about $30 for a 40 lbs bag around here. The dust may be a problem with this as well, but maybe not as much. I have no personal experience to back it up.

Hope it helps

[dom]

I m using sand for my discus as well. pls find the attachment. So far so good. Just the java moss which on the rock all cover by the sand now.

[aloha_discus]

Aloha, I have used playground sand from Wal mart in a discus tank before. Great stuff and I used a diatom filter to get the fine particles out of the tank after several rinses in a 5 gallon bucket. The HOT magnum worked best as the flow of this filter does not really disturb the sand once in the tank. HTH

Aloha Ike ;D

[Danse]

I use fine white sand in a 75G tank with plastic plants.

Positives - Beautiful, easy to kleen all waist sits on top and easy to see, was inexpensive $10.00 for 40 kl, or $7.30US for some 90Lbs.
Negative - it has turned a little green, loose a bit every time i vacuum.

Does any one know if it works well with real plants?

[dom]

the white sand which i am using is quite cheap. RM5 = USD0.80 for 30KG. But gonna wash several times and soak in the water for a week at least.

Yes. It do fine with my Anubias Nana, Java Fern(Microsorium Pteropus 'Windelov' n 'tropical' and Cryptocoryne Wendtii. But it covering all my java moss.

[nicholas76]

HI all ,

for the first time I am also looking into using sand as a substrate for my discus tank to be.

however at the LFS they charge $30 a kilo , I have a 4 x 18 x 18 so this will cost wayyy to much. I read how most poepl just go and get sand from the local sand and soil place.

Lesly your local to me, what did you use, were you get it from??

I was thinking of say 3 cm base of white sand and planting severa; layers of grasses for the tank. Perhaps a main feature of some sort i the center.

you experinces? problems??

[dom]

friends of mine went to river side and get the river sand. According to him, he soak the sand for 2 weeks. And must change the water daily. May be you can try your luck at the river...

Discus do like warm temperature. But lot of plants do need lower temperature to grow and survive.

Mircrosorium Pteropus and Anubias is some kind of very taugh plants. They do need min CO2 and lighting. And they can grow under warm temperature. But if with extra CO2 and lighting provided. They will grow nicer.

[nicholas76]

Dom

i had great success with the swords and some other strong plants. I found the grasses to be weak though, I feel it probably had to do with fertilizing though.

ill get some sand from the pool shop as suggested by others.

[drew22to375]

I have not used sand in a Discus tank yet but I have used it in other tanks. By far the best sand I have used was the pool filter sand. It is alreaady prewashed and settles great I just poured it right into my tank even with my filter running and it was clear in 2-3 hours. I have also used sand blasting sand, and I would not recomend this it is alot finer than the pool filter sand and it just seems to trap too much crud. IT always looked like a green alage swamp. I always had to suck up a layer of sand every week. Tho it might not be as much of a problem doing 50% daily water changes tho..