Question: Switching to sand as substrate..??

So i removed my river rocks today from my 3 foot tank because i've been having ammonia problems.. now that i almost have it under control i'm after a different substrate in which debri (food and poop) can not hide so easily and mess with my parameters..
I'm not a fan of a bare tank so i was thinking of trying sand..

Can anyone give me any info on whats necessary for using sand as a substrate? also pro's and con's?

And i'm after a bright colour also but have only found reptile sand in colours.. I've heard that's bad for axies.. So does anyone know where I can find coloured play sand in the victoria (geelong, melbourne) area? or some place that ships here..?

THANKS ALL
-Aimee.

I have no idea where to but coloured sand sorry. Did you know you can use tiles for the bottom of your tank as well? I use sand and it is easy to clean because the gunk sits on top and then I use my turkey baster and suck it up. The best part about using sand is seeing the little lotl footprints in the sand....they are so cute.

Would you class white or black sand as a good colour?
Because you can get some Black sand or White sand easily enough, although the black sand can be kinda pricey.

I got some cheap play sand from walmart for £2.80 and its practically white

sorry aaron we don't have wallmart here..

Do you have Asda?

or like argos?

If you want nice white sand. City farmers have some and it is reasonably priced. That is where I get mine from. Bunnings has play sand really cheap but it doesnt look white and it doesnt look as soft....

nah im after colored sand. like pink or green..

nah no asda or argos whatever that is..

i think i'll see if bunnings can order it in for me...

no luck with bunnings, or kmart.. spotlight has it but WAY expensive coz you have to buy it per half kg.. and my new pet store said they could order it in so i think i'll try that..

So the coloured sand failed.. Way too expensive where I am..

I bought some play sand from Bunnings and put it in my tank... 5 HOURS later and the water is still so cloudy I can't even SEE my axies..!!

HELP!!! Am I going to have to take all the water out and scoop the sand out and do a MASSIVE clean?? I would LOVE to avoid this if possible..??

In regards to cleaning the sand before hand.. I tried to with a net and bucket but the sand was just going through the net with all the dirty water so that failed.. The pack did say pre-washed though so I thought I'd give it a try..

HELP!!!???!!! I can't feed my axies if I can't see them..

Hey Aimzs

I hope this is not the same tank as the high ammonia one. The axos are probably already stressed from the ammonia and doing so many changes is going to stress them out even more.

As for the sand, depending on how fine it is it will likely take a day to settle. Even though it says pre-washed keep in mind that play sand is designed to be play sand, not in an aquarium -- so you should still wash it regardless. It just so happens that play sand is inert enough for us to use in an aquarium. When you first purchase sand, you should thoroughly rinse and massage it in a bucket to get all the debris and dust out. Pour dirty water and repeat. Leave it for a day and then repeat.

Then to put it in your tank, TURN OFF your filter (otherwise the sand will get sucked into the intake and ruin your impeller, or if not, then unnecessarily clog the sponges).

Do not dump all the sand into the tank. this is the mistake most people do.
Take a small cup, scoop up some sand. Place it into tank slowly and to the bottom, then drop the sand along the bottom. Repeat. To be safe, fill up only 1/4-1/2 of the tank with sand. then next time you do your water change, add the rest. REMEMBER to turn the filter back on when you're done.

any changes in any fully aquatic tank should always be done gradually and in steps. never all at once or you risk throwing off the water parameters, and if not, then stressing out its inhabitants.

now that the sand is already in and it's cloudy, i would leave it in and do the same 20% water changes daily until it settles. adding an air stone/pump would help to promote gas exchange, oxygen, and clarity. when you do a water change, put a net on the output because you will be accidentally sucking up some sand as well.

in terms of how much sand should be in the tank, you should not have more than a 2" layer. less is better.

Aeri, it is the same tank. I'm so sorry I didn't know the sand would stress them out.. I feel horrible.. Now that I know, I wont make the same mistake next time. I'll continue my 20% water changes and do anything else I can to make my axies feel better. I put less than a 1 inch layer though so at least I got that right..

Thankyou very much for the info.