Sand

How deep do you guys keep your sand?

My sand is various heights, but no more then 2 inches in the highest spots. I keep it higher at the back and the axies make a good job of making their own hills too. Its easy to clean when its not very deep as you can break up any gas pockets .

Mine is all about 2 in. I was thinking about taking some out. When I clean it I dont think it gets vary clean.

In regards to sand I'm getting sand this weekend to replace my gravel due to the obvious reasons but how do you go about it. As in when you get it I would assume it would still have a salt content so do you guys boil it or just place it in the tank & its ok? I'm looking at getting fine white beach sand from a landscaping company (comes from stradbroke beach).

MistressofAxies, you will need to wash the sand. Just put some in a bucket at a time and swirl it around. You will need to keep doing this until the water is completely clear and then some! It can be a bit of a pain but is easier once it is in the tank to look after. It can affect PH levels I usually do a PH test when sand is added. Even if you wash it really well it can still cloud up your tank a bit so don't worry to much about that, it should settle eventually.

I keep my sand about an inch and a half. It started off as 3 inches but a bit gets sucked out each time. Not really concerned though as it doesn't really make a difference to my tank. Might even go bare floor when all the sand is gone

I think most people use childrens play-pit sand. Need washing, but generaly its clean and free from salt and any other nasties you might find in natural/builders sand (grit, glass other debris etc).

I either boil substrates for half an hour or if they just need a wash stick handfulls in a sieve/strainer and chuck a kettle of boiling water over it.

Thanks for that guys. I've got 2 choices one is pool filter sand or just getting some fine beach sand from a landscape company as for playpit sand they all refer me to landscapers (unless I want a playpit built). Even with washing it out sounds like the best option I don't want it affecting the PH too much I'll be adding at least 60kg of the stuff to the tank, I think the max a axolotl can do is a PH of 8 but I also got mystery snails in there. If I wash it out like you said Sarah would the Ph still be ok for that amount? Also would it be possible if I kept my axies in a bucket to replace the gravel & do the sand then put them back in could it be done in 1 day?

Pool filter sand is nice because it looks more natural, doesn't cloud up like play sand, and doesn't get sucked up as easily with a siphon. Pool filter sand won't affect your pH. The only thing that will affect your pH is substrates which are calcium-based. You'll still have to wash it, regardless.

Why are you putting 60 kg of sand into the tank? That's outrageous! Even in my 4 foot tank, I put at most 3 kg in there.

You'll have to remove your axolotls, as no matter how well you wash your sand, it will make the tank cloudy. Take them out before removing the gravel, and put them in a large bucket with tank water. Take out the gravel, add the sand. If you have a filter, turn it off until the large particles of sand have settled.

For future reference, please use proper punctuation, as not everyone on this forum is a native English speaker, and it is hard to understand your posts without appropriate punctuation.

Thanks Kaysie your advice was legendary! Sorry about my english typing I work in a telecommunications industry & spell the queens english everyday when I get home on the net I neglict my spelling & queen's typing as a break lol so sorry will type properly. I was thinking of adding 60kg of it as thats how much gravel I have in there at present. But upon reading other people's posts they only have the depth of the sand a few centremetres up. The tank measures 6 foot by 2 foot depth by 18 inch wide. How many kilograms do you think I could do, if I only want it layered a few centremetres on the base floor?

Regarding the pool filter sand I think I will go with that if won't affect the PH, that seems like the best bet.

A 6 foot tank with sand only a few centimeters deep should still only be a few kilograms. Maybe 5 at most? You'll end up buying a big bag (mine was a 50 pound bag, 22kg), and you'll only use a little bit of it. The rest will probably sit around, get co-opted for other tanks, plants, various uses.

Ok I got my pool filter sand today about 40kg but as you said Kaysie prolly will only need 5kg (I'll try & use less as possible don't like seeing a bare bottom tank is all). Saturday is going to be a massive job for me & my partner. Thanks for all the advice guys been a great help.

Trust me, a few kg will cover the bottom.

Ok so I survived on 4 hrs sleep last night & I still have wrk to go to. Anyway I was so worried last night with my axolotl Ice. I fed her a big goldfish which has never bothered her in the past and 2 hrs later she was heaving her mouth in a spewing fashion & going crazy. She regurgitated her fish and even after that kept trying to throw up something or somethings. I was so worried, I was waiting till Sat to replace the gravel with pool filter sand but after seeing her like that I didn't waste anymore time.

So at 11pm last night my partner & I did the whole process of replacing everything. It took till at least 4.30am in the morning but we got it done. The 5 axolotls are in a 55L rectangle storage container with a filter & airstone. Ice seems to be ok shes swimming & walking around thank god. I used about 40kg of pool filter sand which made it only a few centremetres up from the ground which is good. I needed enough sand to bury my plastic plants in there.

The water is a tinge cloudy but should be ok by Sat or sunday for them to go back in, I hope. We replaced some of the water but not too much so it would be ready sooner. I was told by the petshop guy when you siphon the bottom of the tank, siphon the sand througly as nasties can get trapped in the pockets of sand.

I've read people suck up some of their sand then just put it back in but how do you do that? Like do you siphon it all in a bucket then drain the bucket with the tank water and throw the sand that got sucked up back in?

Glad the change went well

Yea, your sand siphoning method is fine. With my sand, I siphon the sand to clean it and it does suck up some sand. You can just tip the water out of the bucket and then wash the sand before putting it back in the tank. Sand can get dirty so I try and do that with dirty sand. Though lately I have not been bothering to replace the sand as I put in too much to begin with!