Sand

I'm thinking about getting sand in my axolotl tank so that i can play around with the tank a bit more and make it look good and everything. Just need to know a few things about it. The first thing is I've heard about cooking the sand, should i do this and what does it do? Also how do i clean the tank without sucking up the sand? Do i still use my turkey baster and vacuum siphon?
Mitch.

Hi Mitchell,

Now for sand 101.

Firstly you need to get the right type of sand. Freshwater aquarium sand, children's play pit sand or pool filter sand all work just fine.

Thereafter comes the rinsing/cleaning phase. Put sand in bucket, fill with some water, swirl and discard the 'supernatant'. Just keep rinsing and washing ad nauseum until the water runs clear.

I don't know why you would want to cook your sand because i don't think its palatable at all (with bbq sauce maaaybe..). However, i think you might be referring to sterilising the sand, to kill off harmful parasites and microbes. If you are using the sand for the very first time, and you source it from lets say the children's play pit, sterilising it is actually a good idea.

After your sand is completely rinsed and clean, you can put hot boiling water into the bucket where the sand is and just leave it until the water naturally cools down. You can then discard the water thereafter and your sand will be sterilised. Note that this is a once off event, once you used your sand in your aquarium, do not use boiling water again. Otherwise this time you would be killing off the bacteria who are your friends.

You can still uee the siphon and turkey baster. You will inevitably pick up some sand but in the big scheme of things, losing a few grains per clean up isn't really that bad. You have to hold the siphon in a 45 degree as you sweep across the substrate. That way you will tend to just put up the floaty detritus rather than the sand. Holding it perpendicular and upright will tend to suck more sand up. With the siphon and turkey baster, it really is practise makes perfect. You would have to experiment and hone your own preferred method. Im am ambidextrous but wierdly, i use the siphon well with my left hand and turkey baster with my right hand... Just an irrelevant but i thought interesting point.

Cheers.

Hey Mitch

I know nothing about cooking the sand but I can offer some assistance.

Get your self either childrens play sand or pool sand, you can get the play sand from Bunning, very cheap.

1. What you need to do is rinse the sand, do this for about a week. You can either do this in a couple of bukets or rinse it through some panty hose.

We rinsed ours 3 times a day for a week - I was sick of it in the end.

2. Take the Axies out of the tank

3. Remove & store your tank water

4. Place the sand in the tank - 1 inch it plenty

5. Place a plate on the sand & pour the water back into the tank. The plate will help assist inkeeping the water clear.

6. Run your finger through the sand - gets rid of any air pockets

7. You should be able to put the axies back in the tank in 12 to 24 hours - once pretty clear.

Get a syphon vacuum - you can get these pretty cheap from your acquarium shop. Each week you do your maintenance run the syphon thru the sand & again then run your fingers through the sand to ensure there are no air pockets.

Good luck

Thanks for your help,
I want to use sand but i haven't really talked to my mum about it much. She thinks it will be too hard to clean but i will try and persuade her.
Thanks
Mitch.

Hi Mitch,

Just to toss my two cents in, I never rinse sand. It makes the sand dustier - makes more of a cloud in the tank - but it settles quickly enough and is harmless, albeit unaesthetic.

-Eva

Maybe the sand is a different quality in Germany Eva !

paullism said:

Maybe the sand is a different quality in Germany Eva !

Click to expand...

haha I doubt it. Germans rinse their sand, too. I just wanted to add my little tidbit to testify that it isn't a crime not to rinse sand.

-Eva

Thanks a lot, I actually had a lot of the same questions. So then, if I buy the sand in sealed bags instead of getting it from someplace where it was already sitting out, I don't necessarily even have to rinse it at all, as long as it has enough time to settle?

You'll still want to rinse it. It will still be 'dusty'.

bitenomnom said:

Thanks a lot, I actually had a lot of the same questions. So then, if I buy the sand in sealed bags instead of getting it from someplace where it was already sitting out, I don't necessarily even have to rinse it at all, as long as it has enough time to settle?

Click to expand...

It really depends on the type of sand it is (bagged or not) and your personal preference.

Children's playsand while being an ideal substrate for axolotls, has not been designed with aquariums in mind and will likely 'cloud' the water if not rinsed thoroughly.

I use 'fresh water aquarium sand' in my tanks, which I only needed to rinse once and then it was clean.

Prior to this, I used 'children's play sand' which was also purchased in a plastic sealed bag. This sand I had to rinse through three to five times before it was suitably clean for my tastes (ie. no cloudiness) and this was despite the manufacturer's declaration that the sand had already been 'pre-washed'.

Some sand will take days to settle and clear, some will settle within hours, and this also depends on the type of filter you have to help clear it up.

If you don't mind temporary cloudiness due to sand, then no, you don't necessarily need to rinse it.

Speaking for myself, I hate cloudy water . I tend to prefer rinsing and rinsing again, as I know me. If I had a cloudy tank due to not rinsing the sand beforehand, and hated it (which I would), I would be pulling my hair out at the thought of "If only I had rinsed it first" and tapping my foot waiting for it to clear up.

To help prevent cloudiness, you can also place a plate on top of the substrate, and when filling the tank, direct the water flow onto the plate so the sand underneath is not disturbed.

All right, thanks. I'll probably rinse it anyway because I find that sort of thing oddly satisfying, but just wanted to make sure thoroughness wouldn't be too much of an issue if I get tired of it before it's 100% rinsed out, heh.

i use aquarium sand its nice and when cleaning the tank the tank will get cloudy but the clouds will begon in like half hour if its not faster but i also got an good filter pump

Not rinsing the sand does not pose any sort of health risk. It just makes for cloudy tank water, which is unaesthetic. Water clouded by unrinsed sand can take awhile to clear up.

-Eva

Hey, I was wondering I know everyone says use play sand or aquarium sand, but theres actually a couple different types of sand- I assume reptile sand (made of calcium carbonate) is bad, but what about "riverbed sand" that is made of quartz? Thanks- Nick

Hi Nick

The best sand by far is silica based sand. Aquarium sand is ok but you may be creating issues if you use marine aquarium sand as it has a high limestone content you will be messing with the ph balance of your tank.

The most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings (e.g. deserts) and non-tropical coastal settings (e.g. beaches), is silica (silicon dioxide SiO2), often in the form of quartz.

Arkose is a sand or sandstone with a high content of feldspar (an Aluminum Silicate), usually derived from the weathering and erosion of nearby granite. "Aluminum is a protoplasmic poison and a pernicious and persistent neurotoxin". No living systems use aluminium as part of a biochemical process. It can have devastating accumulative effects in humans though I am unsure what it would do to an axolotl

Much of the fine white sand found in coral reef settings is ground-up coral (limestone) that has passed through the digestion system of the parrot fish.

Some places have sands that contain magnetite, clays, chlorite, glauconite, or gypsum. Sands rich in magnetite are dark to black in colour. The chlorite - glauconite bearing sands are typically a green colour. The gypsum sand dunes of the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico are famous for their white colour.

All commercial sand is washed as it is part of the extraction and preparation process. The problem with builders sand is that there are many different grades depending on the application ie: masonry, bricklaying, cement etc. It is also not as uniform as say pool filter sand which is why it appears to be unwashed.

Have I sold you on no substrate yet? But seriously if you stick to playsand or filter sand (which incidently can come in a variety of colours) you can't go to far wrong.

Thanks so much, I was talking to people I work with and nobody was 100% sure that quartz sand would be ok (because of the fact that others can change pH of the water). I would go with no substrate but I would like for them to be able to get traction on the bittim of my tank (its a glass 30 gallon). Also, for filtration its it acceptable to use over-the-edge aquarium filters if I safeproof them, and divert the flow so the water isn't too disturbed?

Hi Nick

Waterfall filters are fine especially if you divert the flow. Sounds very much like you've got it .

Awesome thanks I can't wait until they hatch (there's pictures in my personal profile).

Many thanks for your comment regarding my gravel. You got me thinking. Initially I thought that my Jim wouldnt eat the gravel, he's too smart! But recently I started feeding him earth worms and he really does pick up the gravel along with the worm. He spits it out but you just don't know if he swallows some. Last night and again this morning he was super active and I started thinking about what if he has a blockage etc etc. (a lot of worrying mother thoughts), so i put him in the fridge, bought some playing sand and now in the middle of rinsing it. It's piece of mind isnt it? You really do bond with these little creatures and want the best for them. Thanks again.