SAND HELP!.. im setting up my new tank with sand, but the water go horrible!! help

iSuzie

iSuzie

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Help needed, my sand makes the water go horrible, so.. i filtered it, cleaned it a million times, but now im left with bigish looking grands... now im worried that they will choke on it... what type of sand are you ment to use?? please help!
 
For babies generally no substrate is best, because they are fed on blood worms which are REALLY messy so it's easier to clean with no substrate.

When they are bigger and on to earthworms, quartz sand or childrens play sand is best. Play sand is REALLY cheap and you can get it from bunnings, quartz sand is expensive but can be ordered in from some pet stores in cool natural-ish colours (that's where I got mine).

However, whatever sort you get, you need to clean it till your arm falls off! As in tip some in a bucket, rinse it like 10 times till it's clear, then rinse some more. When you add it to your tank, it will always be a little cloudy, but the more you rinse, the quicker the cloudiness dissipates. The first time I used sand I didn't rinse and my tank was cloudy for 3 days!!! I couldn't even see my axies. I learned my lesson! :)
 
i have washed it a million times, and its not for babys its for my 4 adults, i usually have large black pebbles, like u use for decorations in plants. but i need to use sand now, for 2 of the adults are new and only eat blood worms, and cant get the meal worms out of in between the rocks... but .. the sand that i have washed is now more like gravel. so... now im not sure what to do, as im worried they will suck it up when eating...
 
What kind of sand was it? If it's a big grain size it might be ok, but if it's truly as big as gravel, I'd go get some sand that has smaller and more uniformed grain size.
 
iSuzie said:
i have washed it a million times, and its not for babys its for my 4 adults, i usually have large black pebbles, like u use for decorations in plants. but i need to use sand now, for 2 of the adults are new and only eat blood worms, and cant get the meal worms out of in between the rocks... but .. the sand that i have washed is now more like gravel. so... now im not sure what to do, as im worried they will suck it up when eating...
Click to expand...
Oh sorry my bad, can't be of much help then sorry.. maybe it was just dodgy sand.. Hope you figure it out and your axies are fine!
 
no need to say sorry , ur just trying to help :happy: and its sand from the sand place, they told me it would be fine, and i explained to them that they choke on gravel size pieces, and they assured me it would be ok, but now that i have washed it and washed it over and over, its just gravel ... theres no other shops here that sell sand, thats why i had to buy it from the garden sand and dirt place. im pretty stuff with options right now cos its saturday :(
 
call me crazy, my sand, which i didnt rinse much, settled right away. i mean, immediately. it looked like it does now (6 weeks later) within an hour. maybe i got lucky.
 
I used play sand, or sandpit sand, from Bunnings and it settled almost instantly (I'm talking within less than a minute)
Do NOT listen to sales people about sand- one of the bags I bought ended up being full of gravel because he told me it was just sand.

Could you post a picture?
With maybe a 5 cent coin as comparison?
 
i just took a vid of my male, swimming around playing, so far they are ok, and the water is clear. but im worried about the rocks, so i have decided not to feed them in there untill 2moro when i can try find a pet shop that sells sand designed for tanks. hopfully one will be open on a Sunday! lol ill upload my vid now, its bad quality as i have the tank set up in the lounge, the {lowest lighted room} and the sand really does just seem like i have washed away all the sand and im left with gravel.... :confused:
 
- Take beach sand
- Put it in a bucket
- Add water untill there's atleast 10 cm of water above the sand
- Dig arround in it with your hands so the 10cm of water becomes murky
- Repeat 10 times

- Add the sand to the aquarium
- Put a flat rock in it to break the water when you pour in the rest
- Fill it up with water

Done xx
 
@Patrick
thats pretty much what i did do, except i brought the sand... i dont live near a beach.. and it looks and seems like to me that the sand has dirt mixed with it... even tho i asked.. anyway the problem is, that what im left with is like gravel... im worried about them choking on it.. does anyone know how small is small enough to not bother them? :confused:
 
I can't really see it that well, but it looks fine to me
 
What type of sand did you buy? That sucks so much, you're just trying to do the right thing and this happens.. gah!
 
I got sand pit sand from bunnings for about $10, rinsed it twice, made sure I only put the bare minimum in the tank and it's fine. Do you have somewhere else that you could put ur axi's, so you can take the sand out?

Otherwise, there are some products out there that can clear up murky water, but if you're going to take that option, please note the ingredients on the bottle, as some are toxic to axi's :happy:
 
i know and it completely sucks, took like 2 hours to wash it, and so much frustration and worry!... and now, im not so sure the big rocks are as safe as i thought, now iv seen a pic of a axie that eat one! im going to a pet shop soon to see what type of sand they have, i spoke to them on the phone and they "assured" me that its safe for axies... but im not so sure until i see it... i don't think im gonna trust the word of sales people any more! ... ether way, ill end up with something safe today because there's alot more shops in the town im going to today, unlike where i live lol we only have 2 sets of lights and dont even have macca's haha

wish me luck!!
 
Beck because i brought it from a sand and dirt suppler, i think they just lied to me and told me it was 100%, when in actual fact, it totally wasn't, but i didn't see that until i got home, opened the bag and put some in water... when wet i could tell it was mixed with dirt or something.. bad quality in every sense.. but the problem will be fixed today, and yes i have somewhere to put them while i do a full sand change, iv got a few different tanks set up in my spare bathroom, now know as my aquarium room lol anyways im off to sunbury to hunt down some good sand :happy:
 
Ahh! You should've told me you were so close, hell, I could've traveled and bought my sand with me lol I've got so much left and its easy for me to get. Good luck and let me know if you cant get any decent sand, and be careful of what pet stores and aquariums say! :happy:
 
oh wow you are close lol and yes im not going to believe them! im going to inspect it for my self this time lol after all, its not for their pet, so really as sad as it is, they don't generally care, well most sales people. a few are genuine :happy:
 
Well, like I said, any problems finding good sand, let me know and I'll bring some over. In fact, I'm pretty sure I still have some that's already been washed :happy:

p.s. it would all be free of course, I dont want your money :p
 
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