Sand?

I currently have large pebbles in my axie's tank but am considering changing to sand as I am finding it quite difficult and time consuming to clean due to waste being stuck under and between the spaces around the pebbles (I can't imagine this is too good for the axies, either). Before I do I'd like to find out a bit more about sand.
Firstly, how difficult is it to clean and how do I go about cleaning it? I have been told that sand is very hard to clean however this forum says otherwise, so I'm thinking the person who told me was doing it wrong. I have a gravel siphon, can I use it to clean the sand?
Secondly, how long do I need to allow for the sand to settle in the tank? Is there anything specific I need to know about putting it in or anything I need to do beforehand (apart from cleaning it)?

Also, it would be great if you guys could tell me anything else I need to know about sand before I go out and buy some. Thanks.

HI well im new to axies to and when we got ours we had small gravel but after going threw this site we discovered they were no good and had to choose between sand and large river rocks.
we opted for the river rocks i know it can b a bit of a pain to clean around them but i found it easyer and quicker to do (especialy when it comes time for full water change) than having to wait for the sand to settle and drain then comes the task of cleaning threw it but if you have spare tanks this may not b so bad but we dont so in the end it was much easyer for us to take a bit more time to clean under rocks during a 4 week cycle then what it does to do sand when its time for the big change

hope this helps good luck

I used play sand from a local hardware store. I dumped some in a bucket and sprayed it around with a hose and dumped out the water while it was cloudy. The 2nd time I cleaned some sand I used a pillow case and kinda tossed it around in some water. Kinda like playing with dough when you're cooking. How you mush it up and stuff... I'm bad at describing things so... hopefully that kinda helped ya.

Yeah, I am currently also tossing up the idea of changing my axie's substrate to sand. I am too having the issues with cleaning the large rocks. I''m just having issues about:

1. Cleaning the sand, and

2. Whether Bill will ingest it

I know that small gravel is dangerous, and easily ingested, however sand should be therefore easier to ingest than small gravel and, even though it could be passed through, some still would accumulate, wouldnt it?

I use sand and to clean it I just simply use a piece of hose. Get your water running through the hose and move the hose backwards and forwards through the layer of sand to break up any gas pockets, this will also remove any hidden waste in the sand. You will of course suck up sand too, but I just rinse this through and replace it back into the tank.

Bill will probably ingest some whilst snuffling about for food but this will pass through his system alot easier then gravel and if you watch closely and see him swallow some sand you will also see a lot of it either get spat back out or it will be expelled from the gills.