sand and gravel

I currently have large gravel or pebbles you can say in my set up for my axolotls and I like the sand idea but kinda ifie when it come to cleaning the sand and having it get stuck in my filter. Also can I put the sand over the pebbles? What do you think I should do?

hi,
dont worry about sand getting caught in your filter. some may get stirred up a little bit by the filter but not too much. putting sand in with the pebbles sounds like an interesting idea but im not sure how pleasing it would look. you could always try it and change it if you dont like it

I put sand on top of gravel in my aquarium and it was a mistake. The process of cleaning with the siphon mixes everything up and brings the gravel up to the top, where the axolotls can swallow it.

well its not gravel the pebbles are pretty big and they can't sallow it.

Hi Shaye,

I have Two 160L Tanks with 2 axies in each, and no substrate. I have a three inch wide strip of pebbles minimum of 2" across the front of each tank for aesthetic purposes the rest of the tank floor is bare.

The main benefit is cleaning. The axies have no trouble moving or gripping on the glass.

Good Luck

thanks I got some sand ready but still not sure if I should mix it with the large rock pebble things Im pretty sure when they are bigger they can eat them but they are still only about 3 inches long. Im still worried about sand clouding u p my tank and cause problems with the filter and my chiller.

Question
is it hard to clean it up?
Will it get clogged in the filter or chiller?
Should i just mix it or go with one or the other?

sharelkaye said:

Question
is it hard to clean it up?
Will it get clogged in the filter or chiller?
Should i just mix it or go with one or the other?

Click to expand...

Hello Sharelkaye,

- Sand is relatively easy to clean. The idea is to wash the sand thoroughly until all the debris and impurities have been removed from the sand. Most people use the bucket method, which involves rinsing the sand through a bucket of water and then emptying the water out. This process is repeated several times until the water runs clear. Seeing as you've already established your tank, I would not recommend adding the sand directly into the tank- this will cause a big mess. It would be better if you drained out the water into buckets, add the sand, then empty the buckets of water back in again.

- The filter may become clogged with sand but this is of no cause of concern. For instance, if you have an internal filter, you can dismantle the filter and clean the impeller. This is where clogging is most likely to occur.

- I don't have a chiller but I know of two types: the drop-in chiller and the in-line chiller. Both use coils that alter the temperature of the water. I'm presuming that as long as the coils are not in direct contact with the sand then clogging will not occur. However, I'm not too sure about this. Perhaps somebody who does have a chiller will be able to shed more light on this question.

- You are better off going one type of substrate. Ten times out of ten, sand will be favoured over pebbles because the likelihood of impaction isn't as prominent as with pebbles.

Jay.

sharelkaye said:

Im still worried about sand clouding u p my tank

Click to expand...

I found a good tip here in the forum for minimizing sand clouds. When adding the water, I put a shallow pot onto the sand and filled the water into it instead f dirctly onto the sand. The water then overflowed (even when it was submerged) and that kept the water comparatively clear. After 2 days with the filter running the water looks 99% clear.