Sand cleaning

Im thinking of changing over to sand instead of rocks as they seem to hold alot of dirt and axie waste in them and gets pretty messy when the rocks are disturbed. + i really like the look of the sand, so im going to give sand ago, just a few questions though.

we have sand that has just been recently delivered to our house (my dad is a bricklayer etc) this is good quality sand and i was told that if i boil it, that would clean it and i could use that in my tank? would that be ok?

is the sand heaps cleaner (easier to see waste)then the rocks or is it roughly the same?

and if the axies stir it up does it take long to settle? or does it make it go all misty, im asking this because my axies have a habbit of re-decorating the tank themselves and move the rocks around to make hills and things, so i just thought they might have a bit more fun with sand and it settles more evenly.

sorry for asking so many questions just wanna make sure im doing the right thing by my axies

I used ordinary play sand like a white/grey colour, washed it plenty of times, baked it and re-washed it a couple of times before putting it in the tank.

You might have probs with the tank re-cycling again once the substrate is changed - this is what happened to me. Remember to check the ammo and nitrite levels daily for a couple of weeks and change some of the water if it starts peaking.

I'm not sure about the suitability of builders sand - is this the bright yellow stuff? I've never seen anyone use it in their tanks so I'd be a little bit cautious about using it. Play sand is pretty cheap though, so you might want to try and track some down?

And yes, I found it much easier to see any waste.

i had a look at it, its not the bright yellow stuff, its really fine almost white sand. so u dont think boiling it would work? i might have to have a look and see how much it is to buy some aquarium sand.

I have never boiled sand but I considered it when I was going to put sand in my tank. The reason I ended up baking it in the oven is because I could get more sand in there than in a saucepan, and because the oven can reach a higher temperature than stovetop.

It's not that I dont think it would work, but I opted for the bake instead.

ohhhh ok, thats understandable, cleaning can be such a pain. i ended up buying some finally crushed marble rock stuff. i havent put it in the tank yet, thought i might aswell give a good clean when i change it over, but im going to wait till lulu's arm has grown back (which is healing) Thanks for your help anne-marie

Hey yall

Currently, I have large river rock as substrate and am finding out that everyone who has had large rocks in the past is right - its a HUGE pain to clean lols.

So I have 2 questions: How much sand do I need for a 10 gallon tank? 10, 15, or 20 lbs? And is marine sand okay to use?

Hey Aimee, Don't use Marine Sand. it will effect the PH in your water. I think for a 10 gallon, I think either a 15 lb bag or a 20 lb bag would be just right.

When I clean my sand, I use this nifty little tool in the following link: http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19139;category_id=2001;pcid1=3347;pcid2=

This little tool might not be very effective for everyone, but for me it works great! I haven't had any problems with it. What I did to help with cleaning the sand, is I taped the base of the large cleaning piece it comes with and I just go to work cleaning my tank. some sand gets stuck in the little bag it comes with, but it's not a problem because I just put the sand back in the tank

Also, when you get some sand for your tank, I would just take out all the rocks, take out your Axies and put them into some plastic containers with water changes, and put the sand into your tank after you give it a good washing. Let the sand cycle in the tank for a few weeks so that the sand can get some good bacteria in it, then after that you should be good to go. Hope this helps ^___^