What type of Sand is best for a Discus tank?

[pinoysport]

if im in the wrong area. Im sorry.

Right now I have a 90 gall on BB tank... I would like to go to sand.. if i get pairs from my lot of discus right now I will move them to a BB tank.....

I prefer really white sand as im going to accent the tank with blue LED lights.....

Any help would be greatly appreciated... HELP..... what is the best????


and if you could post pics of what it woudl look like in a tank that would be cool too .. if not just what kind would help so I can ask my LFS to order me some.

Thank you everyone ....

[Scribbles]

Many people here use pool filter sand. You can get it at most hardware stores pretty cheap.

Chris

[JL15219]

Here is a tank with PFS:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=76130

[ILuvTropicalFish]

Hi, I asked how to change to sand and got alot of useful info that could help you. Here is a link. I hope this helps you as much as it helped me.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=75901

[Tito]

AquaTerra has some really nice white sand. The grain is very fine but dense. Compacts like wet flour.

[alpine]

My wife has had a planted tank now for a couple of years and I was advised to go to the pool store and purchased the sand used for filtration and it looks great and has done a great job , fish and plants are looking GOOD. It was vey affordable .

Roberto.

[fishorama]

I like a small grain pool sand, shop around, different shipments, different sand

[pinoysport]

thank you everyone for the replys. I will let you know what I come up with,... never heard of the pool filter sand. I will def check into that one....

[Eddie]

thank you everyone for the replys. I will let you know what I come up with,... never heard of the pool filter sand. I will def check into that one....

http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/aqua-quartz-pool-filter-sand-50-lbs-p-69631.html?ref=42

[DiscusFreakaZoid]

i use Estes marine Sand.i dumped it in like i was doing a number 2 and went in very nicely with no mess and didnt cloud the water. its not powdery either and is grainier than most sands .. also doesnt mess with water chemistry.

Fishguy272711-06-2006, 02:03 AM
In general I will not put anything in my tank that was not made to go in an aquarium. My fishes' lives are not worth the extra money saved. Sand can cause filters to burn out very quickly if any gets into the intake. For my 150 I am planning on using sand and will be making sure that none of the intakes are more than halfway down the side of the tank to avoid any stirred up sand from being sucked in. I am using Estes' marine sand for my 150 and recommedn you do the same. It is silica based so it won't screw up your pH. It comes in many colors and the only preparation is presoaking, no need to rinse that really dirty stuff from the hardware store and still end up introducing who knows what into your tank.

Fishguy272711-06-2006, 04:29 AM
Most marine sands are calcium carbonate based and will raise pH and harden water, but I talked to Estes directly concerning their marine sand and the guy assured me there was no way it messes with pH, it is 98-99% silica and even has a plastic coating (not quite sure why, but I assume it helps somehow, maybe helps the sand from breaking down further). If your LFS does not have it they most likely can special order it for you, otherwise you could order it online.

[Tropheus]

That is an incredibly inspirational idea. I think I might use it. Dump it in and bury a big piece of drift in it. Very cool and artistic. But only one disc?

[Nismo]

I just switched over to sand. I really love it. I bought the white CaribSea Natural Sand. Its awesome. Washing it was a breeze. 4 bags didn't take long at all. I went with the sandy white beaches theme for my tank.

[tcmemphisbbq]

I changed over to white silica recently, really like how easy it is to clean and the nice white look - everything stays on top. Discus look nice also against it.
And Really cheap - 4.99 for 50lbs and its prewashed and cleaned, I had very little cloudiness when I added it.

[DiscusFreakaZoid]

That is an incredibly inspirational idea. I think I might use it. Dump it in and bury a big piece of drift in it. Very cool and artistic. But only one disc?

i have 2 see:)

[pinoysport]

hey everyone... thank you for the replies... I have made my choice... i will provide before and after pics soon... thanks for the feedback everyone.

[Strong Coffee]

Silly question, but....

Is sand small enough to get sucked up by siphoning when water changing and cleaning the substrate? I only have experience of gravel at the moment, which is definitely too heavy to get vacuumed up.

[tcmemphisbbq]

you lose some, very little really, depending on how strong your siphon is you get used to where to hold it to pick up things and not get very much sand. Mine doesnt pick up much at all, but I am sure i do lose a little in the process...i hold mine about 1/4-1/2" above the sand and its enough to get all the poop and left over food, etc

Tom

[DonMD]

It depends on the strength of the siphon. My siphon will pull up cups of sand if I want. But I've found that when I insert the siphon into the sand, I let it come up half way, then tilt the siphon over 45 degrees. The sand slides back down, being cleaned all the while, and then falls to the bottom. Try it!

One word of caution with sand. If you use canister filters, make sure the intake is well above the substrate so that you don't inadvertantly get sand pulled into your canisters.:D:)


Silly question, but....

Is sand small enough to get sucked up by siphoning when water changing and cleaning the substrate? I only have experience of gravel at the moment, which is definitely too heavy to get vacuumed up.

[Tito]

you lose some, very little really, depending on how strong your siphon is you get used to where to hold it to pick up things and not get very much sand. Mine doesnt pick up much at all, but I am sure i do lose a little in the process...i hold mine about 1/4-1/2" above the sand and its enough to get all the poop and left over food, etc

Tom
Ditto

[zamboniMan]

One word of caution with sand. If you use canister filters, make sure the intake is well above the substrate so that you don't inadvertantly get sand pulled into your canisters.:D:)

This can happen if you have fish that actively dig through the sand (I found that when I had elephant nose the would really stir it up at night and the cannisters would suck it up.) This is why I turn the micron filters off at night if they're not attached to a sump (if I'm using Magnums, etc.). I just put them on the same timer as the lights. This seems to reduce the amount of sand caught in the microns pretty well. Also sponges over the intakes reduce alot of it too though even with both these things I still have small amounts of sand that gets caught.

Hope that helps,
Josh

[Strong Coffee]

What happens when sand gets into the filters from WCs or from being disturbed by fish? Does it just settle in the bottom of the canister, clog the media or cause the filter to fail?

Presumably it's not a big problem if it gathers at the bottom of the canister.

[Eddie]

What happens when sand gets into the filters from WCs or from being disturbed by fish? Does it just settle in the bottom of the canister, clog the media or cause the filter to fail?

Presumably it's not a big problem if it gathers at the bottom of the canister.

Another tip when using sand, add a fine sponge pre-filter on the inlet of the canister to prevent sand from getting in. You will need to pull and clean the prefilter often.

Using silica sand is best as it is not too fine and it stays down on the bottom. Even is fish start digging around, it doesnt turn up like fine sand.

HTH

Eddie

[zamboniMan]

It depends on how much sand gets sucked up. If it's not much then you might not even notice when doing filter maintenance. If alot gets sucked up it can clog up your impellers and filter pads. Usually this doesn't happen and it's barely noticeable. Even silica sands with a fine prefilter will get sucked into the filter just not in as much as other sands.

[Eddie]

Even silica sands with a fine prefilter will get sucked into the filter just not in as much as other sands.

Never did for me, but I guess it can happen, depending on how much current is moving the sand.

[Tito]

Man I hate to say it but.....

I've used sand for all of my tanks. Black Tahitian, Pool filter sand, Pink Samoa Sand, AquaTerra sand. Most of these except for the pool filter sand were fine grain and I never had a problem with impellers in canisters or power filters. And even when I had fish that sifted the sand a lot I just found a small amount in my canisters - nothing to cry to mama about. in fact - when sifting type fish would I have found is that there is a lot of mulm in the water column but that's about it.

Guess I'm lucky.

[pinoysport]

Well here are before and after pics if anyone cares.. ... thank you everyone for their posts and ideas. it helped... i know my tank is no where near some of the tanks i seen here but its mine and the best i can do so far,,,,,

i went with white sand ... tiki sand i think its called. very dense sand... also got some new wood and took out some plants.. also added soem blu leds.

Thank you all


Before.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Discus%20bare%20bottom/IMG00239.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Discus%20bare%20bottom/IMG00240.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Discus%20bare%20bottom/IMG00265.jpg

after

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Current%20tank%20Jan%2010%20Discus/DSC07527.jpg


http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Current%20tank%20Jan%2010%20Discus/DSC07539.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Current%20tank%20Jan%2010%20Discus/DSC07537.jpg

LEds

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Current%20tank%20Jan%2010%20Discus/DSC07576.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Current%20tank%20Jan%2010%20Discus/DSC07579.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa190/pinoysport-vault/Current%20tank%20Jan%2010%20Discus/DSC07580.jpg

[Merlin1066]

Looks Great much better than mine! (I don't have a discus tank yet) LOL! The blue LEDS make your fish look like they are our for a night of clubbing!, VERY COOL!:drummer:

[fishorama]

Well, I like both before & after

[zamboniMan]

Nicely done.

[tcmemphisbbq]

Where did you get the wood? Looks sharp.

[akumastew]

Very Nice!

[JL15219]

Very interesting wood work! :D

[zamboniMan]

Never did for me, but I guess it can happen, depending on how much current is moving the sand.

I tend to like to keep wierd fish like rope fish, elephant nose, etc that like to dig in the substrate so that may be part of it.

[pinoysport]

Hey everyone thanks for the kind words. im not really sure what kind of wood this is..

I have to give credit to my LFS.. O Street Aquarium in Sacramento... told joe what my iddea was and he found the food to make it happen.... thanks... .

stuff leeches really bad LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! o well

[dbfzurowski]

Very nice new setup, your fish seem brighter now.
Wood looks awesome too.

[tcmemphisbbq]

Hey everyone thanks for the kind words. im not really sure what kind of wood this is..

I have to give credit to my LFS.. O Street Aquarium in Sacramento... told joe what my iddea was and he found the food to make it happen.... thanks... .

stuff leeches really bad LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! o well

I personally like the color when it leaches, looks more natural from the videos I have seen of discus in the wild on this site... Some say its theraputic for them..

I do like that wood you have